Palmetto CEO stepping down

By Dick Hughes  

DECEMBER 22, 2009 11:39 a.m. (0)

L. Leon Patterson, who has been chief executive officer and chairman of Palmetto Bancshares since 1990, is stepping down as CEO and will be replaced by Samuel L. Erwin, who has been CEO of the banking subsidiary since May, the company announced.

The change is effective Jan. 1.

Patterson, 68, continues as chairman of the board of the holding company and as an employee of Palmetto Bank in the new position of senior executive for strategic development. His annual base salary was reduced to $250,000 from $387,500.

The change in leadership has been in the works for several months but “reconfirmed” in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 21.

Patterson, who succeeded his father as head of Palmetto Bank, announced in May his intention to resign as CEO of the holding company, which this spring moved its headquarters to Greenville from Laurens, where it had been based for 102 years.

In its regulatory filing, the board of directors said Erwin’s annual salary was set at $225,000. He also will receive 10,000 restricted shares in 2010 and be eligible for an annual cash bonus up to 50 percent of his base salary upon achievement of “specified goals and criteria.”

The company also reconfirmed the appointment of Lee S. Dixon, 43, as chief operating officer of the holding company and the bank at an annual salary of $200,000, 7,500 shares of restricted stock and an opportunity for an annual case bonus of half his base salary.

When Paul “Bill” Stringer, 65, retired June 30 as CEO of the bank and COO of the holding company, Erwin was named CEO of the bank and Dixon COO of the holding company.

Erwin and Dixon were named to the board of directors in October.

For the first time in its known history, Palmetto Bank, which is weighted down by heavy commercial loan defaults, has lost money this year, $17.9 million in the second quarter and $14.2 million in the third.

The deteriorating loan portfolio has pushed its capital ratios below what federal banking regulators consider well-capitalized.

The Palmetto Bank has 29 branches in Upstate.