Anthony C. Weagley described the first six months of his post as President and CEO of Malvern Federal Savings Bank as a “whirlwind of activity” and so far this year, it has not been any different, writes Brian McCullough for Daily Local News.
In just in the last six weeks, Malvern has made four major announcements, among them plans to open its first location outside of the state. A full-service branch in the Morristown Plaza office complex in New Jersey should open its doors by the end of March. The location was chosen due to its demographics which mirror that of West Chester as a county seat in “a big wealth pocket,” said Weagley in a phone interview with Daily Local News.
At the start of the year, Malvern Federal also announced it was planning to open a private banking office in Villanova. The office, to be located at the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Route 320, will be staffed by a registered investment advisor and retail and private banking professionals. It will offer savings, private banking, trust, wealth management, as well as lending services, and is planned to be up and running by the end of this month.
“It will be our headquarters for private banking,” Weagley noted, “it’s not the traditional branch setup.”
New locations were not the only news out of Malvern recently. Good news also came from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which informed the bank that the agreement that put Malvern into “troubled condition”category was terminated effective January 21.
“We believe this decision by the OCC serves a validation that we have returned the bank to safe and sound footings,” said Weagley. “The OCC’s action to terminate the Formal Agreement is affirmation of the progress we have made.”
The banks also saw stellar quarterly results in January, as the bank earned net income of $1.3 million, an increase of $1 million over the same period last year. Assets, now at $760 million, have also grown by $200 million since Weagley’s arrival with similar growth expected over the next 18 months. These numbers make the bank a good target for potential acquisition, a possibility Weagley leaves open, but only for the future.
“It’s something always being looked at,” noted Weagley. “Is it something that’s going to happen tomorrow? I would say no. There’s a nice window here to grow Malvern. For all we know, we could become the acquirer.”
