Washington Trust falls after upsized $65 mln stock offering

Coastal Financial (EVERETT)

13/12/2024 12:59

** Shares of regional lender Washington Trust  WASH.O 
fall 2.2% to $35.50 premarket after overnight follow-on offering
priced
    ** WASH sold ~1.9 mln shares in an upsized stock offering at
$34/shr for gross proceeds of about $65 mln
    ** Offering boosted from initial size of $55 mln, priced at
a 6.3% discount to stock's last close
    ** BofA Securities was the sole book-running manager for the
offering
    ** Regional lenders have increasingly tapped equity capital
markets in recent weeks, cashing in on a rally in bank stocks
fueled by President-elect Donald Trump's victory
    ** Coastal Financial  CCB.O , Dime Community Bancshares
 DCOM.O , Valley National Bancorp  VLY.O  and Associated
Banc-Corp  ASB.N  among those who have raised equity recently
    ** WASH will use the proceeds from the offering for general
corporate purposes including balance sheet optimization
strategies
    ** Such strategies may involve the bank selling
lower-yielding loans and debt securities, repaying wholesale
funding balances, and purchasing new bonds - WASH
    ** As of last close, WASH up 12.1% YTD

 (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
 ((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))