On December 26th, 1993, Robert Gaughen took over Hingham Institution for Savings as CEO during a tumultuous time for the bank. A former Hingham president was arrested on charges that the illegally approved loans costing the bank millions, and for which he allegedly received $240,000 in illegal payments. The bank was also underperforming. Non-Performing Assets were $9.4 million in 1992, 6.2% of assets, which were quickly reduced by 90% to $0.9 million, 0.62% of assets, in 1994, and only continued to improve from there. Asset quality is critical to the survival of a bank, and along with these improvements, Hingham began paying a dividend in 1994. *Source: Hingham Institution for Savings’s 1994 Annual Report Over the next 26 years, the company’s loan quality improved, its branch network expanded outside of Hingham, Massachusetts, and Book Value per Share grew 14 times. The company’s share price has grown 15.6% per year (including dividends). *Hingham Institution for...
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