---

That’s compared to earnings of $795,000, or 27 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

The bank also recently celebrated a key milestone, said Allan W. Stone, president and CEO.

“On April 8, 2016, the Valley Commerce Bancorp completed its 20th year of operations. I am very pleased to announce that our first quarter 2016 earnings of over $1.1 million were the highest first quarter earnings ever reported by Valley Business Bank. Our team’s success at growing the loan portfolio in 2015 resulted in stronger loan revenue in 2016. In addition, we experienced significant loan loss recoveries in the first quarter of 2016. These recoveries were initially recorded as an addition to our allowance for loan and lease losses but the continuing high quality of our loan portfolio made it appropriate to record a reversal of our loan loss provision resulting in a benefit to net income.”  Stone said.

“In the first quarter we completed our most recent round of scheduled regulatory examinations and I am more convinced than ever that our very strong team of banking professionals will continue to achieve success despite a challenging economic and regulatory environment,” he added.

The bank had total assets of $409.8 million on March 31, down slightly from $422.2 million on March 31, 2015.