Meridian Bank raises quarterly cash dividend to 14c per common share

Meridian Corporation reported the board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 14c per common share, payable February 17 to shareholders of record as of February 9. This is an increase of 1.5c or 12%, compared to the quarterly cash dividend of 12.5c per common share declared in the prior quarter. Christopher Annas, Chairman and CEO commented: “Meridian’s fourth quarter earnings grew 7.9% over the prior quarter, to $7.2 million. Annual earnings grew 33.6% over 2024 to $21.8 million. Year-over-year growth of our core commercial, industrial, and real estate loan portfolios equaled 10.7%, driven mostly through new and existing loan relationships, and despite SBA loan sales and a $25 million residential mortgage sale to reallocate to commercial. The exceptional loan growth has been sustainable over the years due to targeted lending hires, training new candidates and devising new ways to capitalize on market disruption.”