RENASANT BANK

Those who are cognizant of their finances may want to do business with Renasant Corporation. The holding company owns RENASANT BANK, which serves consumers and local business through about 80 locations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The bank offers standard products such as checking and savings accounts, CDs, credit cards, and loans and mortgages, as well as trust, retail brokerage, and retirement plan services. Its loan portfolio is dominated by residential and commercial real estate loans. The bank also offers agricultural, business, construction, and consumer loans, and lease financing. Subsidiary Renasant Insurance sells personal and business coverage.

Renasant entered Georgia in 2010 with the FDIC-assisted acquisition of Crescent Bank & Trust after that institution was shut down by regulators. The deal added about a dozen branches to Renasant's network. The company made a similar acquisition the following year when it assumed much of the assets of American Trust Bank, another failed Georgia bank.

Renasant is poised to make additional purchases; urban areas in the South, such as Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama; Oxford and Tupelo, Mississippi; Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; and northern Georgia are target markets. The company utilizes a decentralized approach that allows local bank presidents to execute their own business plans based on their knowledge of their markets. In 2011 it expanded into Montgomery and Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as well as Starkville, Mississippi. Renasant also bought the Birmingham-based trust division of RBC Bank.

Amid the economic downturn Renasant has looked to diversify its loan portfolio. The bank has reduced its amount of loans for construction and land development -- a sector that has been hit particularly hard -- by tightening its underwriting standards. The company has remained profitable, and its net income increased in 2010 and 2011, buoyed by more favorable interest rate spreads and its Georgia acquisitions.