Jan. 19--First Midwest Bancorp, which has been on an acquisition spree in recent years, said Friday that it plans to open full-service branches in Naperville and in downtown Chicago in the first quarter, while also consolidating four existing branches into nearby locations and selling 12 already closed offices and seven land parcels previously bought for expansion.
"Significant investment in our mobile and online delivery channels and evolving consumer preferences create a natural progression in the manner and frequency clients interact with us," Michael Scudder, chief executive of the Itasca-based banking company, said in a statement.
Last May, its First Midwest Bank unit was tops among retail banks in customer satisfaction in the Midwest, according to J.D. Power.
The bank has more than 100 locations in the Chicago area, northwest Indiana, central and western Illinois, and eastern Iowa. Its assets were $9.9 billion as of Sept. 30, up from $9.4 billion and $8.2 billion, respectively, in the immediately preceding years. It has announced at least five acquisitions since the summer of 2014.
Chief Financial Officer Paul Clemens said the dozen branches have been closed over the past year, with a couple in the past quarter.
"In any closing, we provide 90 days notice to the affected staff and give them priority placement for the dozens of openings we have across our footprint," Clemens said. "And over the course of the year our normal turnover is 150 to 200 positions."
Staff was generally reduced by two to four positions per closing, he said, "but those affected staff in some cases took open positions elsewhere within the bank or chose not to accept openings for a variety of reasons."
The branch decision will save the bank $3.6 million a year pretax in operating costs, of which 60 percent will be realized in 2016. First Midwest said it will also have a charge against earnings of $5.1 million after-tax, or 7 cents a share, related to selling the properties.
byerak@tribpub.com
