Highest Official:
William Enloe
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Public Affairs Contact:
Lisa Schwarz
Marketing Director
(505) 662-5171
lanb@lanb.com

Los Alamos National Bank is an independent community bank that provides a full range of financial services to the consumer, commercial and government markets in northern and central New Mexico. With assets of $650 million, LANB has 167 employees and locations in Los Alamos, White Rock and Santa Fe.

Quality and Business Performance Achievements

• LANB dominates its market area. For instance, it is the primary financial institution for 66 percent of Los Alamos County residents. Since January 1998, it filed 80 percent of all mortgage loans in Los Alamos County and 9 percent of all mortgage loans in Santa Fe County, more than any other lender. LANB also is the largest Guaranteed Rural Housing lender in New Mexico and the leading originator of Fannie Mae loans in northern New Mexico.

• Because of streamlined procedures, LANB approves home equity loans in two days or fewer while its competitors take from one to six weeks.

• In its most recent survey, 80 percent of the bank’s customers said they were “very satisfied” with the service they received. This is considerably higher than the levels received by its primary competitors (52 percent and 40 percent) and the national average for banks (55 percent).

• LANB has a high level of customer loyalty. One-third of bank customers have five or more banking relationships with the bank, an industry benchmark at more than five times the national average.

• LANB’s commitment to the community was demonstrated dramatically by its response to the May 2000 Cerro Grande Fire in the Los Alamos area, which burned nearly 50,000 acres, destroyed over 280 homes, and forced the evacuation of 20,000 Los Alamos and White Rock residents. While the primary location in Los Alamos and its branch office in White Rock were forced to close, bank employees moved its entire operation overnight to the Santa Fe branch. As a result, customers received uninterrupted service. In addition, the bank took extensive measures to support the people and businesses of Los Alamos, including:
  • Offering zero interest loans to anyone in the community (not just customers) who was affected by the fire.
    
  • Eliminating overdraft charges and late fees.
    
  • Negotiating with Fannie Mae to suspend mortgage payments on lost homes.
    
  • Providing free day care on bank premises to employees.
    
  • Paying full salary to employees during evacuation days plus double time to employees who worked during evacuation.
    
  • Providing counseling, bonuses and cash grants to employees affected by the fire.

• Returns on key financial indicators exceed local competitors and the national average. For example, the bank’s net income has increased by more than 60 percent over the last 5 years; annual return on stock exceeded the S & P 500 by 50 percent; return on average assets has exceeded the national average every year since 1995; earnings per share increased from $1.20 in 1995 to nearly $2.00 in 1999; dividends per share increased from $.50 in 1995 to nearly $.80 per share in 1999.

• LANB’s operating expenses as a percentage of average assets have been near 2.5 percent since 1995 while the national average has been around 3.5 percent and local competitors are about 4 percent.

• LANB uses an efficiency ratio and assets per employee to measure productivity. An efficiency ratio compares operating costs to operating income; a lower ratio is better. LANB’s efficiency ratio is at 49 percent, while the best of its competitors have ratios above 60 percent. Also, assets per employee have risen from $5 million in 1995 to $7 million as of June 2000. The assets per employee of the best of its competitors are $1.2 million below that of LANB. The national average in terms of assets per employee is $3 million to $4 million below LANB.

• For the past three years, employee satisfaction results have been well above those of banks its size in five of eight key indicators of employee satisfaction. It also exceeded the norm for banks of its size in six of 12 dimensions important to its mission and culture. For example, while the norm for organizational leadership was 78, the bank received an 85.

• Sixty percent of LANB’s employees received leadership training in 1999 (as compared to 8 percent of bank employees nationally), up from 40 percent in 1998. Sixty percent of employees received external training, including college courses, (compared to 21 percent of bank employees nationally), up from 50 percent in 1998.

• LANB reduced employee turnover in its operations department from 34 percent in 1999 to 17 percent as of June 2000. One reason for the reduced turnover was the creation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and an employee profit sharing plan. Contributions to these plans have increased by 50 percent over the last five years and are equal to about 21 percent of an employee’s base salary.

• In 1999, LANB received New Mexico’s highest quality award, the Zia. In 1996, Inc. magazine named LANB one of the 26 "Banks We Love", for its service to small businesses; and in 1995, Money magazine rated LANB as "the best bank in New Mexico."