Extraco Corp. announced that it will not seek funds available through the Capital Purchase Program, which is part of the federal government’s Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) to inject capital into the U.S. banking system.
“Extraco is a family business,” said S. Boyce Brown, corporation chairman, president and CEO. “The third quarter of 2008 was our best in history, and we have never received a government handout. We have a strong balance sheet, nearly $100 million in capital and some $250 million in overnight liquidity sources.”
Mike Thompson, Extraco banks president and CEO, added: “We don’t need the money. We don’t have a good use for the money. And we’re not looking for the government as a partner.”
Extraco continues to be one of the soundest financial institutions in America, Brown said. It also remains on the move. Extraco produced $63 million new loans in the third quarter, and grew loans $7 million in October alone.
“For three generations we have never failed to make a profit, even during the difficult late 1980s when we were the only financial institution in Temple to survive, and one of only a handful that survived in Waco, Killeen, Georgetown, Gatesville and Hamilton,” Brown said.
In addition, Thompson said the banks never got involved in subprime lending, which has been listed as the main factor behind the national financial system’s collapse.
“We’re absolutely still lending,” Thompson said. “We’ve got money to loan, and we’d like to do so for anything that makes good business sense - just like we’ve always done.”
Extraco celebrated 100 years and three generations of family management on July 12, 2002. Founded as a cotton warehousing company, Extraco is the largest and most comprehensive financial institution headquartered in Central Texas with $1.1 billion in assets, nearly $100 million in capital, a loan limit that exceeds $15 million and more than 400 employees.
Extraco offers banking, insurance and investment services through 15 financial centers throughout the Temple, Waco, Killeen, Gatesville, Georgetown and Hamilton areas.
The TARP program was created by the Office of Financial Stability when Congress enacted and the president signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 in October.
The law lets the U.S. Treasury draw up to $700 billion to bail out troubled banks and for other similar purposes.
