Surry Business

Mount Airy-based Surrey Bancorp earned $2.79 million, or $0.78 per fully diluted share, for the year that ended Dec. 31, 2007 — a 5.1 percent increase in profitability from year-end 2006.

For the fourth quarter of 2007, the company reported earnings of $566,706 or $.16 per fully diluted share, down 9.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006.

The 2007 increase in annual earnings primarily resulted from overall growth and increases in non-interest income. The decrease in the fourth-quarter earnings was a result of a tightening net interest margin, brought about by a general decrease in interest rates and increases in the provision for loan losses due to loan growth.

Total assets were $211 million at year’s end, an increase of 12.7 percent from the $187 million reported on Dec. 31, 2006. Net loans increased 8.2 percent to $166,456,800, compared to $153,852,006 at the end of the 2006. Asset quality remained strong with delinquency levels and charge-offs in line with industry averages. Loan loss reserves were $2.78 million or 1.64 percent of total loans as of Dec. 31. Total deposits increased 13.3 percent to $171 million, compared to the end of 2006.

Surrey Bancorp (SRYB.OB) is the bank holding company for Surrey Bank & Trust (the “Bank”), both headquartered at 145 N. Renfro St., Mount Airy, North Carolina. The bank operates four full-service branch offices in Surry County at 145 N. Renfro, 1280 W. Pine St. and 2050 Rockford St. in Mount Airy and 653 S. Key St. in Pilot Mountain. It also has a full-service office at 303 S. Main Street in Stuart, Va.

A wholly-owned subsidiary, SB&T Insurance, sells insurance at 199 N. Renfro in Mount Airy. The bank also owns Surrey Investment Services, which provides full-service brokerage and investment advice through an association with UVEST Financial Services, and Freedom Finance, LLC, a sales finance company at 165 N. Renfro in Mount Airy.