Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (FMCB) Announces Resignation of Longtime Board Member

Rhea-AI Summary

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (OTCQX: FMCB) announced the resignation of Calvin ('Kelly') Suess, its longest-serving current Board member, effective January 14, 2025. Suess served on the board for 35 years, bringing significant agricultural expertise and agri-business connections to the bank.

Chairman, President and CEO Kent A. Steinwert acknowledged Suess's contributions, particularly highlighting his role in establishing a strong community reinvestment culture that earned the bank numerous awards and an outstanding rating from regulators.

The Board's nominating committee is finalizing the appointment of a new board member, with an announcement expected before the end of January 2025. The new appointee will be subject to shareholder approval at the 2025 annual shareholders meeting.

Positive

• Strong community reinvestment culture established during tenure, resulting in multiple awards and outstanding regulatory rating
• Orderly succession planning process in place with new board member announcement expected within January 2025

Negative

• Loss of 35 years of board experience and agricultural expertise

LODI, Calif., Jan. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Farmers & Merchants Bancorp (OTCQX: FMCB) announced today that Calvin (“Kelly”) Suess, the Company’s longest serving current member of the Board of Directors, has tendered his resignation effective at the next Board of Directors Meeting to be held on January 14, 2025 after having served on the board for 35 years.

"On behalf of the entire team at FMCB and the Board of Directors, I want to thank Kelly for his board leadership, vision, strategic guidance, and numerous other contributions to our company over the last 35 years,” said Kent A. Steinwert, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of FMCB. “During his time with the company, Kelly brought his agricultural expertise and agri-business connections to the Bank and has contributed so much of his time and business acumen while being a constant and valuable member of our board helping drive and oversee the growth and success of the company. Kelly was instrumental in creating a strong community reinvestment culture within the Bank which has resulted in the Bank receiving numerous awards along with an outstanding rating from our regulators. I also want to personally thank Kelly for being a trusted advisor to me and true business partner and mentor to our management team. We all wish him the very best in the future.”

As part of normal succession planning and preparation, the Board’s nominating committee is in the final stages of appointing a new member to the Board of Directors and expects to make an announcement before the end of January 2025. The new board member will then be up for a shareholder approval vote at the 2025 annual shareholders meeting.

About Farmers & Merchants Bancorp

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp, trades on the OTCQX under the symbol FMCB, and is the parent company of Farmers & Merchants Bank of Central California, also known as F&M Bank. Founded in 1916, F&M Bank is a locally owned and operated community bank, which proudly serves California through 33 convenient locations. F&M Bank is financially strong, with $5.4 billion in assets, and is consistently recognized as one of the nation's safest banks by national bank rating firms. The Bank has maintained a 5-Star rating from BauerFinancial for 34 consecutive years, longer than any other commercial bank in the State of California.

Farmers & Merchants Bancorp has paid dividends for 89 consecutive years and has increased dividends for 59 consecutive years. As a result, Farmers & Merchants Bancorp is a member of a select group of only 56 publicly traded companies referred to as “Dividend Kings,” and is ranked 17^th in that group based on consecutive years of dividend increases. A “Dividend King” is a stock with 50 or more consecutive years of dividend increase.

In August 2024, Farmers & Merchants Bancorp was named by Bank Director’s Magazine as the #2 best performing bank in the nation across all asset categories in their annual “Ranking Banking” study of the top performing banks for 2023. Last year the Bank was named by Bank Director’s Magazine as the #1 best performing bank in the nation across all asset categories in their annual “Ranking Banking” study of the top performing banks for 2022.

In April 2024, F&M Bank was ranked 6^th on Forbes Magazine’s list of "America’s Best Banks" in 2023. Forbes’ annual “America’s Best Banks” list looks at ten metrics measuring growth, credit quality, profitability, and capital for the 2023 calendar year, as well as stock performance in the 12 months through March 18, 2024.

In December 2023, F&M Bank was ranked 4^th on S&P Global Market Intelligence's “Top 50 List of Best-Performing Community Banks” in the US with assets between $3.0 billion and $10.0 billion for 2023. S&P Global Market Intelligence ranks financial institutions based on several key factors including financial returns, growth, and balance sheet risk profile.

In October 2021, F&M Bank was named the “Best Community Bank in California” by Newsweek magazine. Newsweek’s ranking recognizes those financial institutions that best serve their customers’ needs in each state. This recognition speaks to the superior customer service the F&M Bank team members provide to its clients.

F&M Bank is the 15^th largest bank lender to agriculture in the United States. F&M Bank operates in the mid-Central Valley of California, including Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, and Merced counties and the east region of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Napa, Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

F&M Bank was inducted into the National Agriculture Science Center’s “Ag Hall of Fame” at the end of 2021 for providing resources, financial advice, guidance, and support to the agribusiness communities as well as to students in the next generation of agribusiness workforce. F&M Bank is dedicated to helping California remain the premier agricultural region in the world and will continue to work with the next generation of farmers, ranchers, and processors. F&M Bank remains committed to servicing the needs of agribusiness in California as has been the case since its founding over 108 years ago.

F&M Bank offers a full complement of loan, deposit, equipment leasing and treasury management products to businesses, as well as a full suite of consumer banking products. The FDIC awarded F&M Bank the highest possible rating of "Outstanding" in their last Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) evaluation.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations regarding the Company’s financial performance. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate” or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could” or “may.” Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding management team changes and their anticipated impact on the Company, and the Company’s expansion and its ability to execute on strategic objectives. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of our control, and which could cause future events or results to be materially different from those stated or implied in this document. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to the risk factors and other important factors detailed in the Company’s Form 10-K, Form 10-Qs, and various other securities law filings made periodically by the Company, copies of which are available from the Company’s website. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

For more information about Farmers & Merchants Bancorp and F&M Bank, visit fmbonline.com.

Investor Relations Contact
Farmers & Merchants Bancorp
Bart R. Olson
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Phone: 209-367-2485
bolson@fmbonline.com

FAQ

When will Kelly Suess's resignation from FMCB's board take effect?

Kelly Suess's resignation will take effect at the next Board of Directors Meeting on January 14, 2025.

How long did Kelly Suess serve on FMCB's Board of Directors?

Kelly Suess served on FMCB's Board of Directors for 35 years, making him the company's longest-serving current board member.

When will FMCB announce the new board member replacement?

FMCB expects to announce the new board member before the end of January 2025.

When will shareholders vote on FMCB's new board member?

Shareholders will vote on the new board member at the 2025 annual shareholders meeting.

What were Kelly Suess's main contributions to FMCB during his tenure?

Suess brought agricultural expertise, agri-business connections, and helped create a strong community reinvestment culture that earned the bank numerous awards and an outstanding regulatory rating.