Two TARP recipients repay government aid; another sells stock to boost capital

Two TARP recipients repay government aid; another sells stock to boost capital

Two more banks that got taxpayer assistance through the Troubled Asset Relief Program have repaid the government, while a third raised more than $30 million in new capital through a stock offering.

Fulton Financial Corp., of Lancaster, Pa., repaid the $376.5 million it received through TARP’s Capital Purchase Program in December 2008, while Green City Bancshares Inc., of Green City, Mo., retired its $651,000 obligation.

Meanwhile, HopFed Bancorp Inc., based in Hopkinsville, Ky., sold nearly 3.6 million shares of its common stock at $9 a share. A fourth TARP recipient, Central Virginia Bankshares Inc., is seeking to raise as much as $15 million through a stock offering of its own.

Neither HopFed nor Central Virginia Bankshares, however, disclosed any immediate plans to use the money to repay taxpayers.

Hopfed Bancorp, the parent company of Heritage Bank, got $18.4 million in TARP money in June 2009. It completed the sale of 3.33 million new shares last month, and announced Friday that its underwriter had exercised a portion of over-allotment option and bought 250,000 additional shares.

The sale to the underwriter brought the company an additional $2.14 million in net proceeds.

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