Chesapeake Financial Shares Reports Banner Year

By Kim Lenz Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A year ago Chesapeake Financial Shares reported an outstanding growth year during a difficult economy. The company has even better news to report for 2011.

Jeffrey M. Szyperski, chairman of the board and CEO of Chesapeake Financial Shares, Inc. (parent company of both Chesapeake Bank and Chesapeake Investment Group), reported earnings for calendar year 2011 of $6.98 million, which represents a 28 percent increase over 2010 earnings. The reported earnings per share were $2.16 fully diluted as compared to $1.69 in 2010.

“We feel very fortunate to have had such a great year – a record-breaking year for our organization. It’s a direct function of the caliber of our employees,” Szyperski said.

Chesapeake Financial Shares ended the year December 31, 2011 with total assets of $637.9 million, an increase of 5 percent over 2010. Szyperski said loan demand remains generally weak in local markets, resulting in a 1.8 percent decrease in loan balances outstanding.

Chesapeake Financial's board of directors voted at its Jan. 20 board meeting to increase dividends by 10 percent to $.11 per share, effective March 1. “The increase reflects Chesapeake’s increased income and optimism about our future prospects,” Szyperski said.

The other subsidiary of Chesapeake Financial Shares, Chesapeake Investment Group, also had a strong year, growing total revenues by 12.5 percent despite a volatile market. Mark Monroe, President, stated, “With the extremely volatile markets in the past year, clients have not only valued our conservative money management, but have greatly appreciated our accessibility. They are both Chesapeake Investment Group hallmarks.”

In addition to Chesapeake Investment Group, Chesapeake Financial Shares' deliberate diversification into other lines of business has been largely responsible for Chesapeake's ability to maintain a strong earnings stream in a slowed economy, Szyperski said.

“A crown jewel in our nontraditional banking lines of business is Chesapeake Payment Systems,” Szyperski said. “We were able to increase gross income from this merchant processing division by 61 percent, to $1,663,000."

Chesapeake Financial Shares also supports a receivables financing division, Cash Flow, which operates in the eastern half of the United States. Additionally, Clear Sky Accounts is an online nationwide branch of Chesapeake Bank that currently has customers in all 50 states.