Tuesday, February 01, 2000
Eight Centennial branches to be closed
BY JEFF McKINNEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Provident Financial Group Inc. plans to close eight of 15 Centennial Bank branches obtained with its purchase of Fidelity Financial of Ohio Inc., Greater Cincinnati's largest thrift.
The parent of Provident Bank is expected to close its acquisition of Fidelity Financial, parent of Centennial Bank, on Friday. It will close some branches to help cut costs and avoid overlapping branches in the same areas.
The acquisition of Fidelity gives Provident a company with assets of $800 million and deposits of $600 million. It will boost the bank's retail banking presence on Cincinnati's east and west sides.
Centennial branches to close are Delhi Township/Delhi Road, Loveland, Colerain Township, Cheviot, Anderson, Tricounty, Norwood and Delhi Township/Rapid Run Road.
Provident will continue to operate Centennial branches in Price Hill, Sharonville, Glenway Crossing (Westwood), Hartwell, Madeira, Blue Ash and Ross.
Banks typically achieve cost reductions in mergers from such things as closing overlapping branches or merging duplicate back-office operations, such as check and loan-processing operations.
Analyst Fred Cummings of McDonald & Co. in Cleveland
has estimated that Provident will be able to cut Fidelity's annual expenses by about $8.4 million, or 60 percent, by trimming costs.
The number of the estimated 110 Centennial Bank employees who will remain with Provident has not been determined. The branches will be converted into Provident branches by Monday.
Provident said in August that it would invest about $191 million in stock to buy Fidelity. But the deal's value dropped to about $141 million as of Monday based on Provident's stock price. Provident's stock closed at $31.25, up 75 cents.
Provident's stock — like that of most U.S. banks and financial-service companies — has been clobbered in recent months largely because of the threat of higher interest rates.
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