Smart Talk: New phase of regional bank mergers?; Promising economic outlook for region
Metro Bank headquarters in Swatara Township, Dauphin County
What to look for on Smart Talk Wednesday, August 12, 2015:
What’s the future of Central Pennsylvania-based banks and are we entering a new phase of bank mergers?
First National Bank of Pennsylvania or FNB, its holding company, based in Pittsburgh, is acquiring Metro Bank for $474 million.
FNB will acquire all 32 Metro Bank branches, which include $2.4 billion in total deposits and $2.1 billion in total loans. With the acquisition, FNB moves up to 6th in Central Pennsylvania’s deposit market share from its current 25th.
The FNB-Metro deal follows BB&T’s acquisition of Susquehanna Bank — headquartered in Lititz — finalized just a few weeks ago.
Does this signal a new wave of bank transactions?
To discuss that question and others on Wednesday’s Smart Talk are Matthew Schultheis, a financial and banking analyst at Boenning and Scattergood in York as well as Michael Sadowski, who covers finance and banking for Central Pennsylvania Business Journal.
Matthew Schultheis and Michael Sadowski on Smart Talk
Meanwhile, the region’s economic outlook is promising.
PNC Financial Services economist Kurt Rankin appears on Smart Talk to tell us about the Central Pennsylvania Market Outlook for the second half of 2015.
One highlight from the report: for the first time since the early stages of the post-Great Recession recovery, the size of the local labor force is on the rise.
