Wednesday July 21, 7:06 pm Eastern Time
Net.Bank sees $1 bln in assets by yr end
NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Internet bank Net.Bank Inc. (Nasdaq:NTBK - news) said Wednesday it expected to have about 60,000 accounts with assets exceeding $1 billion by year's end as it mounted an advertising campaign to create a niche for itself.
The bank's chief financial officer, Robert Bowers, told Reuters that Net.Bank's goals went along with estimates set by the analysts who covered it.
The Atlanta, Ga., bank, which reported higher second-quarter profits on Wednesday, opened 13,000 accounts during the quarter, bringing the total to more than 39,000, about 114 percent more than the beginning of the year.
Transactional checking and money market accounts represented 72 percent of them.
Bowers attributed the rise to increased advertising, explaining how the growth rate had surpassed the one set by the bank in January, which was roughly 1,000 accounts a month.
''We're spending more trying to get name of bank out front,'' he said.
Net.Bank, which offers banking services exclusively over the Internet, said assets totaled $817.7 million in the second quarter against $246.7 million for the same period a year ago.
Profits met market estimates at $786,000 or $0.03 per share against $158,000 or $0.01 before a $3-million gain a year ago.
Net interest income was $4.7 million against $1.5 million.
Net.Bank's stock was up 11/16 at 27-3/4 in later afternoon trading in New York.
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