LOCAL BANK STOCK DEMAND BEATS LIMIT NEW OFFERING RAISES $8 MILLION.

Byline: Daily News

VALENCIA - The Bank of Santa Clarita raised more than $8 million in a secondary stock offering, some $1 million more than state regulators would routinely allow, so officials said Tuesday they have applied to increase the size of the offering.

An application submitted Monday to the state Department of Financial Institutions seeks to raise the July stock offering's $7 million limit by 10 percent - or $700,000. Any remaining amounts not covered by the application will be returned.

Strong demand pushed the second-offering price per share past the initial $17 and boosted the total raised to $8.2 million by the closing on Sept. 30. James D. Hicken, the bank's president and chief executive officer, said it's typical for banks to overreach, especially when there is interest.

``The secondary offering was a resounding success, and we are very pleased with the results,'' he said in a printed statement. ``The community continues to show strong support for our locally headquartered banking franchise.

``When you set an offer price to an offer, it needs to be reasonable to the shareholder, and it needs to be reasonable to the people you're selling the stock to. There is still a lot of excitement for the bank stock.''

The locally based bank opened nearly a year ago - the first to open for Santa Clarita in two years. Shares of the bank, traded in the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board, held steady at $18 Tuesday.

The bank reported second-quarter losses of $457,000, down from $539,000 in the first quarter of 2005. Deposits at the start-up totaled more than $26.6 million, up from $9.3 million during the first six months of the year, while loans grew from $6.4 million to $24.3 million.

``We conducted the secondary stock offering to provide additional capital for the bank's expansion and growth strategy,'' Hicken said.