Sandhills Bank to take over operation of three HCSB branches

Sandhills Bank will be taking over three branches of Horry County State Bank as of Monday, according to the Sandhills website.

Sandhills, based in North Myrtle Beach, will begin operating the HCSB branches in Socastee, Carolina Forest and the Windy Hill section of North Myrtle Beach.

An announcement on Sandhills’ website named the new branches, listing addresses that match three HCSB branches. HCSB CEO Jimmy Clarkson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

As of Wednesday, Loris-based HCSB operated 11 branches in the county. That number will drop to eight with Sandhills taking over the three branches. Sandhills currently has seven branches.

According to a March 31 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, HCSB Financial Corp – HCSB’s holding company – wrote that the company’s losses over the past few years “have materially adversely impacted our capital.

“As a result we have been pursuing a plan through which to achieve the capital requirements set forth under the consent order which includes, among other things, the sale of assets, reduction in total assets, and reduction of overhead expenses, as well as raising additional capital at either the bank or the holding company level and attempting to find a merger partner for the company or the bank,” according to the SEC filing.

The filing said those moves would help the company no longer be catergorized as “critically undercapitalized” and the bank might no longer be categorized as “significantly undercapitalized.”

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Sandhills Bank to take over operation of three HCSB branches."