A banking firm of a different stripe: SOUTHWEST BANCORP INC. 20

Sep 22, 2008 (Tulsa World - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- OKSB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Sep. 22--Southwest has little exposure to the reeling housing and credit markets.

Southwest Bancorp doesn't rely on any significant amounts of residential mortgages or make subprime loans, which appealed to a couple of investment professionals who included the company among their picks.

Through its subsidiaries, Stillwater-based Southwest Bancorp offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit and investment services, and specialized cash management, consulting and other financial services from offices in Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas.

It is the parent of Stillwater National Bank and Trust Co., which at the end of June 2007 was the seventh-largest bank in the state based on deposits of $1.7 billion and 2.9 percent of the market share.

"They seem to have limited exposure to subprime credit risk or subprime residential mortgages, which is a good thing," said Keith Goddard, president and CEO of Capital Advisors. "The lending environment is tough for all banks right now, but they've avoided the worst of the worst apparently."

Residential

mortgages are less than 5 percent of Southwest's loan portfolio, and residential construction comprises less than 4 percent of its portfolio, said Brett Kramer, managing partner of Pinnacle Investment Advisors. He noted that those are primarily in Texas and Oklahoma, which didn't have a huge run-up in housing prices like other parts of the country.

If the finance lending crisis expands and hurts the economy a lot more than it has, that could pose a potential risk to the company, Kramer said.

Of the 69 companies included in the Tulsa Index, Southwest Bancorp's stock was among one of the top decliners for the second quarter as its stock price fell 33.9 percent.

For the first half of the year, the company's net income was $9.4 million, or 64 cents per diluted share, compared with $11.3 million, or 77 cents per share, for the same period a year ago.

Laurie Winslow 581-8466

laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com

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