On behalf of Chesapeake Financial Shares Inc., parent company of both Chesapeake Bank and Chesapeake Wealth Management, Jeffrey M. Szyperski, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, reported record earnings for calendar year 2017 of $8,948,933 representing a 27.4% increase over 2016 earnings.
The reported earnings per share were $2.166 fully diluted as compared to $1.709 in 2016.
“2017 was the most profitable year of our organization’s history. In addition to our strong earnings, American Banker named us one of the ‘Top 200 Community Banks’ in the U.S. for the 10th consecutive year and one of the ‘Best Banks to Work For’ for the fifth consecutive year,” said Szyperski.
At the January 19 Chesapeake Financial Shares board of directors meeting, the board voted to pay a dividend of $0.13 per share effective March 1, 2018.
For 2017, Chesapeake Financial Shares stock appreciated 38.8% from $21.60 per share at December 31, 2016, to $30.00 at December 31, 2017. Currently, the stock has a 1.75% dividend yield.
“Most importantly, long-term shareholder value drives our mission for our shareholders,” said Szyperski. “Our stock price has had a total return of 203% over the past 10 years while maintaining a consistent dividend for that entire period, a record which cannot be replicated by any of our peers.”
“Chesapeake Financial Shares ended the year December 31, 2017, with total assets of $785,230,830, an 8.9% increase over year-end 2016,” Szyperski continued. “With the current highly competitive market in lending, we were very pleased to have ended the year with an 8% increase in loans outstanding. Our current loan loss reserve is 0.92% of total loans at December 31, 2017. Total delinquencies 30 days and over decreased 23.1% to 1.10% of total loans at December 31, 2017 from 1.43% at December 31, 2016.”
