First Citrus, BayFirst rank among top-performing community banks
May 27, 2021 - First Citrus Bancorporation ranked No. 83 and BayFirst Financial Corp. (formerly First Home Bancorp) ranked No. 164 on American Banker's new list of top-performing community banks. The list of 200 community banks nationwide was ranked based on three-year return on average equity (ROAA). First Citrus (OTC: FCIT), based in Tampa and with $528.7 million in total assets on Dec. 31, posted an 11.82 percent three-year ROAA. BayFirst (OTCQX: FHBI), based in St. Petersburg and with $1.5 billion in total assets at year-end, had a 10.31 percent ROAA. "The nation’s top-performing community banks managed to boost profits and minimize loan losses despite fallout from the coronavirus pandemic," American Banker wrote, citing help from the federal government, including leniency with loan deferrals and fees from the Paycheck Protection Program. Top performers were also able to increase revenue at nearly twice the rate of expenses, American Banker said. First Citrus was the top-ranked Florida community bank. It plans to open a St. Petersburg office in June.