SEC Company Response from SHORE BANCSHARES INC (SHBI) (CIK 0001035092) (SHBI) — Oct 12, 2007
SHORE BANCSHARES INC (SHBI) (CIK 0001035092)
Date: Oct. 12, 2007 · CIK: 0001035092 · Accession: 0001144204-07-053988
AI Filing Summary & Sentiment
File numbers found in text: 000-22345
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CORRESP
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filename1.htm
Shore
Bancshares, Inc.
Via
EDGAR
October
12, 2007
Ms.
Rebekah Blakely Moore
Senior
Accountant
United
States Securities and Exchange Commission
Division
of Corporation Finance
Mail
Stop
4561
Washington,
DC 20549
Re:
Shore
Bancshares, Inc.
Form
10-K for Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2006
File
No. 000-22345
Dear
Ms.
Moore,
This
letter responds to the comments of the Staff (the “Staff”) of the Division of
Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”)
dated September 18, 2007 in respect of the Annual Report of Shore Bancshares,
Inc. (the “Company”) on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 (the
“2006 Form 10-K”) and the Quarterly Report of the Company on Form 10-Q for the
period ended March 31, 2007 (the “March 10-Q”). We have reviewed the Staff’s
comments and agree to incorporate changes in future filings to address the
issues noted in the Staff’s comments. We understand that the Staff is not at
this time requiring any amendments to the 2006 Form 10-K or the March 10-Q.
Responses
to the Staff’s comments are set forth below.
SEC
Comment #1:
(Selected Financial Data, page 17.) Please revise to disclose the balance of
long-term debt as required by Item 301(2) of Regulation S-K.
Response:
In
future
filings, the Selected Financial Data table will be revised to disclose the
balance of long-term debt. Using the 2006 Form 10-K as an example, our proposed
revised Selected Financial Data table is as follows:
18
E.
Dover Street • Easton, Maryland 21601-3013
Phone:
410-822-1400 • Fax: 410-820-4238
Shore
Bancshares, Inc.
Item
6. Selected
Financial Data.
The
following table sets forth certain selected financial data for the five years
ended December 31, 2006 and is qualified in its entirety by the detailed
statistical and other information contained in this report, including
“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” appearing in Item 7 of Part II of this report and the financial
statements and notes thereto appearing in Item 8 of Part II of this report.
Years
Ended December 31,
(Dollars
in thousands, except per shares data)
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS:
Interest
income
$
57,971
$
47,384
$
38,291
$
34,339
$
36,306
Interest
expense
19,075
11,899
9,010
9,743
12,438
Net
interest income
38,896
35,485
29,281
24,596
23,868
Provision
for credit losses
1,493
810
931
335
356
Net
interest income after provision for credit losses
37,403
34,675
28,350
24,261
23,512
Noninterest
income
12,839
11,498
10,224
9,845
5,968
Noninterest
expenses
28,534
25,431
22,535
19,344
15,960
Income
before taxes
21,708
20,742
16,039
14,762
13,520
Income
taxes
8,154
7,854
5,841
5,266
4,730
NET
INCOME
$
13,554
$
12,888
$
10,198
$
9,496
$
8,790
PER
SHARE DATA: (1)
Net
income - basic
$
1.62
$
1.55
$
1.24
$
1.18
$
1.09
Net
income - diluted
1.61
1.55
1.23
1.16
1.08
Dividends
paid
.59
.54
.48
.44
.40
Book
value (at year end)
13.28
12.17
11.24
10.31
9.68
Tangible
book value (at year end) (2)
11.67
10.51
9.53
9.37
8.72
FINANCIAL
CONDITION (at year end):
Assets
$
945,649
$
851,638
$
790,598
$
705,379
$
654,066
Deposits
774,182
704,958
658,672
592,409
545,192
Long
term debt
25,000
4,000
5,000
5,000
5,000
Total
loans, net of unearned income
and
allowance for credit losses
693,419
622,227
590,766
470,895
435,422
Stockholders’
equity
111,327
101,448
92,976
83,527
78,028
PERFORMANCE
RATIOS (for the year):
Return
on average assets
1.52
%
1.51
%
1.32
%
1.40
%
1.42
%
Return
on average stockholders’ equity
12.66
%
13.20
%
11.17
%
11.70
%
11.79
%
Net
interest margin
4.70
%
4.69
%
4.10
%
3.91
%
4.12
%
Efficiency
ratio(3)
55.15
%
54.13
%
57.04
%
56.17
%
53.49
%
Dividend
payout ratio
36.42
%
34.33
%
38.71
%
37.29
%
36.59
%
Average
stockholders’ equity to average total assets
11.98
%
11.86
%
11.79
%
11.96
%
12.00
%
(1)
Per
share data is adjusted to give retroactive effect to a 3 for 2 stock
split
in the form of a stock dividend declared on May 4, 2006.
(2)
Total
stockholders’ equity, net of goodwill and other intangible assets, divided
by the number of shares of common stock outstanding at
year-end.
(3)
Noninterest
expenses as a percentage of total revenue (net interest income plus
total
noninterest income). Lower ratios indicate improved productivity.
2
18
E.
Dover Street • Easton, Maryland 21601-3013
Phone:
410-822-1400 • Fax: 410-820-4238
Shore
Bancshares, Inc.
Staff
Comment #2:
(Note
5, Loans and Allowance for Credit Losses, Page 46.) Please revise to disclose
the interest income that would have been recognized had your nonaccrual loans
been performing according to their original terms. Refer to Instruction 2 to
Item III.C.1 of Industry Guide 3.
Response:
In
future filings, Note 5 will be revised to include a disclosure of the amount
of
interest income that would have been recognized if the loans had been performing
in accordance with their original terms in accordance with Instruction 2 to
Item
III.C.1 of Industry Guide 3. Using the 2006 Form 10-K as an example, our
proposed revised disclosure is to add a sentence after the third table contained
in Note 5 as follows:
Gross
interest income that would have been recorded in 2006 if non-accrual loans
and
leases had been current and, in accordance with their original terms, was
$139,999, while interest actually recorded on such loans was $0.
Staff
Comment #3:
(Note 6.
Premise and Equipment, page 46.) Please revise Note 1 to disclose your method
of
accounting used to record the sale-leaseback transaction. Additionally, please
disclose the terms and conditions of the sale, to include the sales price and
loan terms, if applicable. Refer to paragraphs 7-8 and 17 of SFAS
98.
Response:
In
future filings requiring such disclosure, Note 1 will be revised to disclose
the
method of accounting used to record the referenced sale-leaseback transaction.
Using the 2006 Form 10-K as an example, our proposed revision to Note 6 is
to
replace the existing disclosure regarding the sale-leaseback transaction with
the following:
Sale
leaseback transaction
On
June
14, 2005, the Company entered into a sale-leaseback agreement with First Oxford
Corporation. Pursuant to the agreement, the Company conveyed title to the land,
including buildings, structures and other improvements of its banking facility
in Felton, Delaware on September 23, 2005 for $950,000. The Company has leased
back the facility for a period of 20 years. The gain on the transaction was
$175,993. In accordance with the provisions of sale-leaseback accounting, the
transaction was considered a normal leaseback and the realized gain was deferred
and will be amortized to other income on a straight-line basis over the initial
lease term.
Rental
expense under the agreement was $75,725 and $30,253 for 2006 and 2005,
respectively.
3
18
E.
Dover Street • Easton, Maryland 21601-3013
Phone:
410-822-1400 • Fax: 410-820-4238
Shore
Bancshares, Inc.
Staff
Comment #4:
(Note
13, Stock Option Plans, page 49.) Please revise to disclose the total intrinsic
value of options exercised during 2004 and total fair value of shares vested
during each of the three years ended December 31, 2006, 2005, 2004. Refer
to
paragraph A240(c)(2) of SFAS 123(R).
Response:
In
future filings, Note 13 will be revised to include the total fair value of
shares vested for each of the three years covered by the report in accordance
with paragraph A240(c)(2) of SFAS 123(R). We note that future filings will
not
require the disclosure of total intrinsic value of options exercised during
2004, but we will include intrinsic value information for all relevant periods
in future reports. Using the 2006 Form 10-K as an example, our proposed revision
to Note 13 is to:
(i)
replace the original intrinsic value discussion with: "The total intrinsic
value of stock options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2006,
2005
and 2004 was $813,882, $352,826 and $676,560, respectively."; and
(ii)
add:
"The total fair value of shares vested during the years ended December 31,
2006,
2005 and 2004 was approximately $29,500, $39,000, and $53,000,
respectively."
Staff
Comment #5:
(Note 23
Quarterly Financial Results, page 57.) The quarterly data presented for basic
earnings per common share and diluted earnings per common share varies from
the
quarterly amounts previously reported in Forms 10-Q for each quarterly period
in
2005, and for the quarter ended March 31, 2006. Please revise to provide the
disclosures required by Item 302(a)(2) of Regulation S-K for differences not
attributable to your stock split.
Response:
In
future filings, Note 23 will be revised to reconcile differences in basic and
diluted earnings per share disclosed in previous Quarterly Reports to account
for our stock dividend in the form of a stock split. We note that, for the
periods reported in the 2006 Form 10-K, there are no differences between basic
earnings per common share and diluted earnings per common share that are not
attributable to the stock split. Using the 2006 Form 10-K as an example, our
proposed revised Note 23 is as follows:
4
18
E.
Dover Street • Easton, Maryland 21601-3013
Phone:
410-822-1400 • Fax: 410-820-4238
Shore
Bancshares, Inc.
NOTE
23. QUARTERLY FINANCIAL RESULTS (unaudited)
A
summary
of selected consolidated quarterly financial data for the two years ended
December 31, 2006 is reported as follows:
First
Second
Third
Fourth
(In
thousands, except per share data)
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
Quarter
2006
Interest
income
$
13,065
$
13,943
$
15,368
$
15,595
Net
interest income
9,414
9,909
9,902
9,671
Provision
for credit losses
311
240
416
526
Income
before income taxes
5,718
5,941
5,167
4,882
Net
Income
$
3,551
$
3,751
$
3,199
$
3,053
Basic
earnings per common share
$
0.43
$