Bradford Bank?s role is growing in the Baltimore community.
Since June 2006, Bradford Bancorp Inc., the parent company of Bradford Bank, has entered into six separate agreements to acquire or merge with different companies. These businesses include American Bank?s Ellicot City Branch Deposits, Valley Bancorp Inc., Best Title and Processing LLC, Golden Prague Federal Savings and Loan Association, Senator Bank and Patapsco Bancorp Inc. The largest of these acquisitions is the Patapsco Bancorp transaction, valued at more than $45.5 million.
The 104-year-old Bradford Bank has created a niche in the commercial lending arena, working in acquisition development and construction.
“What makes us unique is the tenure of our staff in the area, both in their time with Bradford and their long history in the industry [in other places],” Bradford Bancorp Inc. President Dallas Arthur said.
The reason banks merge tends to be twofold. First, it eliminates competition, cutting costs and creating a market advantage by filling the place of the former competitor, according to research by Richard Stanford, a professor in the Department of Economics and Business Administration at Furman University.
Secondly, it creates a lending and income advantage for the bank. By increasing its presence in any sector, the bank “has increased the probability that any one of its loan customers will make payments to other parties, which happen to be its deposit customers as well,” Stanford?s research says.
Operating seven offices in the Baltimore area, Bradford Bancorp Inc. reported consolidated assets of $474.1 million at the end of 2006. The figure is supported by deposits of nearly $390 million for the fiscal year, along with stockholder equity of more than $40 million.
Due to the finalization of the merger andrelated transactions with Patapsco Bancorp., Arthur was not able to give specifics on the future expansion of the bank. However, there is no indication the developing entity that is Bradford Bancorp has any intention of slowing down.
“We see ourselves continuing to grow and move forward,” Arthur said. “Our ultimate goal is to grow to become a billion-dollar company.”
