KENNEBEC SAVINGS BANK ACHIEVES FIVE-STAR RATING SEVENTY-NINTH CONSECUTIVE QUARTER

 SEPTEMBER 2009: AUGUSTA, ME - Mark L. Johnston, President & CEO of Kennebec Savings Bank (KSB) announced today the Bank has received another five-star rating from BAUERFINANCIAL, the nation’s leading independent bank rating firm.  The rating was based on second quarter performance for 2009 and represents the 79th consecutive quarter that KSB has achieved BauerFinancial’s highest rating.

Prepared quarterly, BAUERFINANCIAL releases a report about recommended institutions that are recognized as “superior” with a five-star rating. According to BAUERFINANCIAL, only 4.8% of the nation’s banks have achieved this rare and honorable distinction for over 19 years consecutively.

According to a BAUERFINANCIAL representative, “Each of the institutions on the Recommended Bank & Thrift Report is safe, financially sound and is operating well above its regulatory capital requirements. Each had a tangible capital ratio greater than 6% and a total risk-based capital ratio greater than 10%. Five-star institutions generally have twice the capital required by regulators.”

A recent report released from BAUERFINANCIAL on the fifteenth of the current month reveals a significant number of banks that were considered to be at a mediocre standpoint in the previous quarter have stumbled from “adequate” to “problematic.”  The current count of banks rating two stars or below has reached an astounding and heightened 899.  This indicates more than 10% of all nation’s banks appear on BAUERFINANCIAL’s  Troubled and Problematic Bank Report.

In addition to the capital ratio, other criteria are used to determine Bauer's Star Rating. Some of these include but are not limited to: profitability/loss trend, evaluating the level of delinquent loans and repossessed assets, the market versus book value of the investment portfolio, regulatory supervisory agreements, the community reinvestment rating (CRA), and liquidity. Potential losses on available-for-sale securities, delinquent loans and repossessed assets are forecasted in assigning our star rating.

“The turbulent times of last year have impacted Kennebec Savings Bank only minimally” said Bank President & CEO, Mark Johnston.  “Our Bank has always been a safe place to do banking, and that has not changed.  It is encouraging to be recognized by a nationally-recognized and respected independent rating firm,” he said.

Established in 1983, BAUERFINANCIAL, Inc. analyzes and reports on the financial condition of the nation's banks and credit unions. Each bank and credit union is required to file a detailed financial report with its government regulators. BAUERFINANCIAL obtains the raw data from the federal government and analyzes it completely and independently, supplementing it with additional research and historical data. Upon completion of the analysis, a star-rating is assigned. (The star-ratings range from zero-stars to five-stars with five-stars being the highest.).  Banks and Credit Unions do not pay for this service, nor do they have the option of avoiding it. All banks and credit unions are rated, without prejudice.

The five-star rating system, which Bauer introduced in 1988, is nationally recognized as "the bank rating system." Bauer provides these ratings FREE as a consumer service.

Kennebec Savings Bank is a $695 million state-chartered mutual savings bank with a team of 81 employees and branches in Augusta, Waterville, and Winthrop, and two
24-hour electronic banking centers called KSB Anytime, one on Route 202 in Manchester and one in the Augusta foyer.  We are proud to the bank where “the feeling is mutual.”