Valley Commerce Bancorp, holding company of Valley Business Bank in Visalia, announced second quarter net income of $1.1 million, up from $911,000 in the same quarter last year.

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For the first six months of the year ending June 30, net income was $2.2 million, up from $1.7 million in the same period of 2015.

“I’m pleased to report solid second quarter 2016 earnings to go along with our very strong first quarter. We are particularly proud to have grown net loans by $29 million or 11 percent during the 12 months ended June 30, 2016,” said Allan W. Stone, president and CEO, in a statement.

“This resulted in our yield on average assets improving to 4.47 percent for the first half of 2016.  We also reduced our cost of funds compared to the prior year and our 2016 net interest margin of 4.30 percent is considered favorable as compared to both our peers and the industry as a whole. We have diligently adhered to conservative credit fundamentals and are confident that our core earnings will remain strong despite looming economic challenges.”

Valley Commerce Bancorp reported total assets of $416.05 million on June 30, down from $421.32 million at the same time last year.