Fulton will close 13 branches as it absorbs the former Republic Bank

Jul. 23—Fulton Financial Corp., the Lancaster company that was given former assets of 30-branch Republic Bank when federal bank regulators seized the money-losing Philadelphia company in April, said Tuesday that it will close 13 of its own branches that have been made redundant by the merger.

They will shut by November, saving $8 million a year.

Fulton shares closed at a historical high of $19.65 on July 17 after reporting higher profits. Chairman Curtis Myers credited gains to the new Republic business, which the Fulton took over from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. without having to pay a premium following Republic's financial collapse and FDIC takeover. The stock has since moved higher.

Fulton said at the time of the acquisition that it expected to consolidate branches but hadn't named which would shut.

FDIC records show the total number of U.S. bank branches peaked at around 100,000 in 2009 but fell below 80,000 by last summer, due not only to mergers and consolidations, but also to consumers bypassing branch offices to access their money through smartphones and laptops.

Fulton will close an office at the Comcast Center, leaving customers to the branch at 16th and Market. (Fulton won't reopen the Republic branch at 16th and Walnut, shut before the merger by a water main break.) It will close its branch at 8000 Frankford Ave., leaving another at 7300 Frankford. Fulton will also close its Broad and Girard branch, leaving others open in nearby Fairmount and Brewerytown. In the Pennsylvania suburbs, Fulton is closing one of its three branches on Street Road in Bensalem.

In suburban New Jersey, Fulton plans to close two of its five branches in Cherry Hill, one of three Marlton, one of two in Voorhees, one of two in the Sewell section of Washington Township, and one of two in Northfield. Also slated to close are offices in Mullica Hill, Hainesport and West Berlin, which the bank notes are in driving distance of other Fulton outposts.

Before boosting profits with $8 million in annual savings from the cuts, starting next year, Fulton expects the shutdowns will cost the company $10 million over the next month and a half: $6 million for write-offs of computer equipment, furniture and other branch premises; $3 million in lease termination losses; and about $1 million for employee severance, though Fulton expects some staff will go to work at other Fulton sites.

Republic Bank chairman Vernon Hill had insisted on an ambitious branch expansion program, a move that contributed to his ouster in a boardroom coup in 2022, but failed to turn the company profitable. Fulton was the beneficiary of Republic's collapse, taking over $4 billion in deposits, $3 billion in loans, and the branch network for less than their face value, leaving the FDIC with a $667 million loss on the failing bank's remaining assets. Shareholders, led by South Jersey insurance broker and Democratic leader George Norcross, also lost their investments, as the bank's stock market value fell from $350 million in 2022, to zero.

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