Nonstop Jerry - On the road with the CEO of Orion Bank.

I'm not trying to beat a dead bank here; but, I came across an article profiling Jerry Williams in the peak of the craziness in the real estate market - 2006. The happenings of the last week really put this "success" in perspective. It is titled Nonstop Jerry - On the road with the CEO of Orion Bank. If you like irony the whole article is worth a read; but, it is pretty long so here are some good parts. Emphasis Added.

From 2001 to 2005, Orion posted compound annual growth rates of 34 percent for earnings per share, 38 percent for net income and 27 percent for asset growth. With many loans concentrated in Florida real estate development, Orion's return on equity has hovered around 25 percent annually for the past five years.

Ok... break neck growth in an overheated market is always bad. Is it?

"It's a phenomenal thing," Kirkman tells the half-dozen senior managers about Orion's home equity loan production. "The loans never stop." Beaming, the managers have been reporting year-to-date production goals at 100, 150 and 250 percent.

Referring to an 'under-performing'  competitor:

"Are you kidding me?" Williams asks in mocking disbelief. All hat and no cattle, he surmises. Somebody needs to look into this deception, he mutters. The SEC, bank regulators, the media who bought it hook, line and sinker. Somebody. "People can say whatever they like. That's why we like the numbers, because the numbers don't lie," Williams tells the group.

Orion closed $1.15 billion in loans in 2005. Of that, $915 million was in commercial real estate, much of it construction loans... ..."We're making about $1 million a week," he says.

They lost about $1.5M a day in Q3 2009.

Williams pulls his BMW into an immaculate, cavernous hangar far from the hustle and bustle of commercial flight operations at the Naples airport. He walks about 50 feet and climbs aboard Orion's $6 million Piaggio Avanti P180, tethered to a powerful generator on the tarmac. Minutes later, the racy Italian twin turbo-prop climbs effortlessly to 10,000 feet, cruising at 300 mph toward Sarasota.

Keep an eye out for that in the FDIC auction!

A quick stop at Orion's downtown office (more hugs) before the pair meets with Harvey Kaltsas, an acupuncture physician who is developing the Kanaya condo tower in downtown Sarasota. Before dealing with Orion, Kaltsas had been turned down for a loan by some of the largest banks in town.
"The guys at Wachovia told me, 'Go see Rich Hopper at Orion. He's the most creative banker in town,'" Kaltsas says.

One lesson learned "creativity" and finance do not mix!

"Twenty-eight years as independent is rare," he says. He has no plans to sell Orion to the highest bidder-and there are plenty of bidders. "I get about five calls a week," he admits. "They want it all."

Maybe he should have taken those calls!

A classic example of FUMU Finance! I'll leave Jerry alone now...