Company banks on comeback plan

Horizon Bank might have failed, but the company behind the bank refuses to surrender.

In a somewhat unusual twist, the Bradenton-based bank, which regulators shuttered Sept. 10, is still active in the form of Horizon Bancorporation Inc. That company trades over the counter under the symbol HZNB.

And the company, still run by Horizon Bank founder, president and CEO Charlie Conoley, hasn't ruled out running another bank, according to a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Conoley is still active with the company, the filing acknowledges, as is chief financial officer Kathleen Jepson.

“Management and the board of directors are currently evaluating the possibility of the company entering into one or more lines of business, which may or may not involve the ownership of a financial institution, while, in the short run, resolving all outstanding issues stemming from Horizon Bank's receivership,” the Sept. 17 filing states. “We do intend to maintain, for the foreseeable future, the company's status as a fully reporting public company.”

Conoley couldn't be reached for comment. Bradenton businesswoman Mary Ann Turner, who was chairman of the board of Horizon Bank, deferred all calls to Conoley.

Investors, albeit on a limited basis, have responded positively to the company's perseverance. Indeed, the company's stock price closed at 29 cents a share Sept. 20 — up from 15 cents a share Sept. 17 and up from three cents a share Sept. 13. Trading volume on those days was unusually high for a company with a failed bank on its balance sheet.

Little Rock, Ark.-based Bank of the Ozarks, through a loss-share transaction with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., took over Horizon's assets and more than $150 million in deposits.