|
|
|
People’s Bank (NASDAQ: PBCT)
Headquarters: Bridgeport Center, 850 Main Street, Bridgeport, 06604 (203-338-7171)
1996 Annual Results (millions)
Revenues: N/A
Net Income: $80.1
Market capitalization: $1180
Assets (total owned portfolio): $7,645
Return on assets: 1.13 percent
Return on equity: 13.8 percent
Earnings per share: $1.96
CEO & President:
David E.A. Carson
|
Business New Haven
9/8/1997
By: BNH
|
Bridgeport's People's Bank (NASDAQ: PBCT) stands out for the innovative ways it has built its business and created value for shareholders. By reaching more consumers through bank branches in grocery stores and building a large and lucrative credit card business, People's has continued a steady recovery and expansion from the hard times of the early 1990s.
Perhaps the most obvious signs of expansion at the bank are its branches at Super Stop & Shops throughout Connecticut. Forty-five branches are planned; 33 are already in place. Though this expansion has increased expenses, the grocery store branches are already proving a success. Each one generates $210,000 in new deposits each week.
The other key to growth at People's Bank has been a burgeoning credit card business, far larger than the size of the bank would otherwise indicate. Its $3 billion credit card portfolio makes it the 27th largest issuer of VISA and Mastercard.
The U.S. is not the only market for People's Bank's credit card business. According to Mark K. Vitelli, senior vice president in charge of American credit cards, People's saw an opportunity in the British credit market.
In particular, that market was much like the American one in the late 1970s and early 1980s: a few issuers provided credit at high cost to the consumer with low standards of service. People's Bank undertook its British expansion when credit card interest rates there were in the upper 20s; they have subsequently dropped but are still in the low 20s.
By applying techniques honed in the hyper-competitive American credit card market, People's has been able to accumulate since April 1996 a credit card portfolio with $100 million in receivables. This expansion was faster than when People's launched its credit card business in Connecticut, where it enjoyed both a branch network and name recognition.
|
Go FirstGo PreviousGo
NextGo LastGo
to Index
|
|
