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8-K - GREAT SOUTHERN BANCORP, INC.gsbc-8k092111.htm

September 21, 2011

Reporters May Contact:
 
Kelly Polonus, Great Southern Bank, (417) 895-5242
kpolonus@greatsouthernbank.com

Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. Announces the Repurchase of its
Outstanding TARP Warrant from the U.S. Treasury

Springfield, Mo. – Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:GSBC), the holding company for Great Southern Bank, announced today that it has completed the repurchase of a warrant held by the United States Department of the Treasury. The 10-year warrant was issued on December 5, 2008, as part of the Company’s participation in the Treasury’s Capital Purchase Program (a part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP), and entitled the Treasury to purchase 909,091 shares of Great Southern Bancorp, Inc. common stock at an exercise price of $9.57 per share.

The warrant was repurchased by the Company pursuant to a letter agreement between the Treasury and the Company for a total repurchase price of approximately $6.4 million, or $7.08 per warrant share. The repurchase price was based on the fair market value of the warrant as agreed upon by the Company and the Treasury.

Great Southern President and CEO Joseph W. Turner said, “The repurchase of the warrant at this agreed-upon price concludes our participation in the TARP Capital Purchase Program and underscores our commitment to increasing long-term value for our shareholders. The capital position of the Company continues to be strong, significantly exceeding the “well capitalized” thresholds established by regulators.”
 
With total assets of $3.4 billion, Great Southern offers banking, investment, insurance and travel services. Headquartered in Springfield, Mo., the Company operates 76 retail banking centers and more than 200 ATMs in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. Great Southern Bancorp is a public company and its common stock (ticker: GSBC) is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select stock exchange.
 
www.GreatSouthernBank.com

Forward-Looking Statements

When used in documents filed or furnished by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), in the Company's press releases or other public or shareholder communications, and in oral statements made with the approval of an authorized executive officer, the words or phrases "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," "intends" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, (i) expected cost savings, synergies and other benefits from the Company’s merger and acquisition activities might not be realized within the anticipated time frames or at all, and costs or difficulties relating to integration matters, including but not limited to customer and employee retention, might be greater than expected; (ii) changes in economic conditions, either nationally or in the Company’s market areas; (iii) fluctuations in interest rates; (iv) the risks of lending and investing activities, including changes in the level and direction of loan delinquencies and write-offs and changes in estimates of the adequacy of the allowance for loan losses; (v) the possibility of other-than-temporary impairments of securities held in the Company’s securities portfolio; (vi) the Company’s ability to access cost-effective funding; (vii) fluctuations in real estate values and both residential and commercial real estate market conditions; (viii) demand for loans and deposits in the Company’s market areas; (ix) legislative or regulatory changes that adversely affect the Company’s business, including, without limitation, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and its implementing regulations, and the new overdraft protection regulations and customers’ responses thereto; (x) monetary and fiscal policies of the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Government and other governmental initiatives affecting the financial services industry; (xi) results of examinations of the Company and the Bank by their regulators, including the possibility that the regulators may, among other things, require the Company to increase its allowance for loan losses or to write-down assets; (xii) costs and effects of litigation, including settlements and judgments; and (xiii) competition.  The Company wishes to advise readers that the factors listed above could affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed with respect to future periods in any current statements.

The Company does not undertake-and specifically declines any obligation-to publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.