SANTA CRUZ, Calif., May 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa
Cruz County Bank (OTC: SCZC) announced today its rank as 22nd in the Top Performing 200 Community Banks and Thrifts in
the United States. This is the fifth consecutive year Santa Cruz County Bank has ranked in the
Top 200 Community Banks and Thrifts in the United States. Performance data and rankings were
released in American Banker Magazine's May 2018 publication. A total of 633 publicly traded
institutions, with less than $2 billion in assets, were included in the nationwide ranking. Ranking
was based upon 3-year average return on equity for the years ending December 31, 2015, 2016 and
2017.
A total of 26 California banks made American Banker Magazine's Top 200 Community Bank list. The median 3-year return on
average equity for the top 200 banks was 9.89% compared to a median of 6.95% for all 633 institutions. Santa Cruz County
Bank's 3-year average return on equity was 12.97%.
David Heald, President and CEO commented, "In the past five years we have progressed from
115th in rank to 22nd in the nation. Our continuous improvement is the result of our focus and commitment
to maintain top performance within our industry. Our Board of Directors, our Management team and our entire staff are to be
commended for our performance."
ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK
Santa Cruz County Bank, founded in 2004, is a locally owned and operated community bank with offices located in
Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz,
Scotts Valley and Watsonville. The Bank offers a variety of
competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial
real estate financing, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, mobile
banking, remote deposit capture, and online banking bill payment and cash management. The Bank's SBA Department has been
recognized as a top SBA lender in Santa Cruz County and the Silicon Valley.
NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL RATINGS AND AWARDS
S&P Global Top 100 Community Banks 2017: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 63rd in the nation out of nearly
3,000 banks with assets under $1 billion.
Financial Management Consulting (FMC) Group: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked as the top bank in California for overall performance for the first quarter of 2018 and #1 in asset quality and lowest in
non-performing assets. The Bank ranked 3rd in overall performance among 185 California banks and ranked 1st
(lowest) in non-performing assets for the full year in 2017. The Bank has ranked in FMC's top ten banks in California for the past three years.
The Findley Reports, Inc.: Santa Cruz County Bank was named a Super Premier Performing Bank for its 2017 performance. The Bank
has received the top ranking of Super Premier by Findley for eight consecutive years.
Bauer Financial Reports, Inc.: Santa Cruz County Bank rated five star or "Superior" for its financial strength for the quarter
ended December 31, 2017.
Independent Banker Magazine, published by the ICBA: Santa Cruz County Bank ranked 22nd in its Top Best
Performing Member Community Banks for return on average equity.
COMMUNITY AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
2018: Farm Bureau of Santa Cruz County, Al Smith
Friend of Agriculture Award, for support of agriculture.
2018: Voted "Best Bank" by the readers of Good Times, a weekly publication with distribution throughout Santa Cruz County for six consecutive years.
2018: Voted "Best Bank" by the readers of Santa Cruz Sentinel, a daily publication with distribution throughout Santa Cruz County for four consecutive years.
2017: Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz County "Big Step Award" for the 2016 Holiday Food Drive.
ABOUT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BANK
Santa Cruz County Bank, founded in 2004, is a locally owned and operated community bank with offices located in
Aptos, Capitola, Santa Cruz,
Scotts Valley and Watsonville. The bank offers a variety of
competitive deposit and lending solutions for businesses and individuals; including business loans, lines of credit, commercial
real estate financing, agricultural loans, SBA and USDA government guaranteed loans, credit cards, merchant services, remote
deposit capture, mobile and online banking, bill payment, and cash management. For the past nine years, the Bank's SBA Department
has been recognized as a top SBA lender in Santa Cruz County. Santa Cruz County Bank is a top
USDA lender in the state of California.
Santa Cruz County Bank stock is publicly traded on the OTC marketplace under the stock symbol SCZC. Stock purchase orders may
be placed through a brokerage firm or one of the Market Makers listed in the Investor Relations section of the bank's website.
For more information about Santa Cruz County Bank, please visit our website www.sccountybank.com.
This release may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Such risks and
uncertainties may include but are not necessarily limited to fluctuations in interest rates, inflation, government regulations
and general economic conditions, and competition within the business areas in which the Bank is conducting its operations,
including the real estate market in California and other factors beyond the Bank's control. Such
risks and uncertainties could cause results for subsequent interim periods or for the entire year to differ materially from those
indicated. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, which reflect management's view only as of
the date hereof. The Bank undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent
events or circumstances.
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SOURCE Santa Cruz County Bank