HAMBURG, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evans Bancorp, Inc. ("Evans") (NYSE MKT:EVBN), a community financial services company serving Western New York since 1920, announced that its Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of $0.34 on its outstanding common stock, a 9.7% increase from its previous $0.31 per share dividend paid on April 8, 2014. This dividend equates to an annualized yield of 2.8%. The dividend is payable on October 7, 2014 to shareholders of record as of September 16, 2014.
"This marks our fifth dividend increase in four years, which is a testament to our strong performance, commitment to returning capital to shareholders and the confidence we have in the fundamental strength of our business and future growth prospects," stated David J. Nasca, President and CEO of Evans Bancorp, Inc.
Since April 2011, Evans semi-annual dividend rate has increased from $0.20 per share to $0.34 per share, resulting in a growth rate of 70 percent.
Mr. Nasca added, "Our growth strategy revolves around providing community-focused, customer-centric service, tailored products and valuable financial insight and advice to our customers. We believe this is the reason for our strong financial performance and will continue to result in long-term growth."
About Evans Bancorp, Inc.
Evans Bancorp, Inc. is a financial holding company and the parent company of Evans Bank, N.A., a commercial bank with $831 million in assets and $707 million in deposits at June 30, 2014. Evans is a full-service community bank, with 13 branches, providing comprehensive financial services to consumer, business and municipal customers throughout Western New York. Evans Bancorp's wholly-owned insurance subsidiary, The Evans Agency, LLC, provides property and casualty insurance through seven insurance offices in the Western New York region. Evans Investment Services provides non-deposit investment products, such as annuities and mutual funds.
Evans Bancorp, Inc. and Evans Bank routinely post news and other important information on their websites, at www.evansbancorp.com and www.evansbank.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning future business, revenue and earnings. These statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance, events or results. There are risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results of Evans Bancorp to differ materially from the results expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements include competitive pressures among financial services companies, interest rate trends, general economic conditions, changes in legislation or regulatory requirements, effectiveness at achieving stated goals and strategies, and difficulties in achieving operating efficiencies. These risks and uncertainties are more fully described in Evans Bancorp's Annual and Quarterly Reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Evans Bancorp undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new, updated information, future events or otherwise.