Cardinal Financial Corp. / CFNL

About Cardinal Financial Corp.

8270 Greensboro Dr., Suite 500, McLean, Va. 22102
www.cardinalbank.com | 703-584-3400 | Founded: 1997

Industry: Financial Services | Category: Banks

Cardinal diversified in 2005, buying a mortgage company and a trust operation as it builds a more complete portfolio of banking and personal financial services.
The company is run by Bernard H. Clineburg, a longtime area banker who has a history of building large community banking franchises and making money for his investors. In recent months, he has hired some well-known commercial banking talent from his wide pool of friends in the industry, including Kathleen Walsh Carr to run Cardinal's District operations and Kendal E. Carson as president of the company.
Cardinal's main challenge is to enlarge its loan portfolio. While the company has grown rapidly in recent years and become adept at gathering deposits, its loan portfolio has had a hard time keeping up. A push to make more loans in 2005 paid off: While deposits grew 30 percent, loans grew 44 percent. And the company's net interest margin — its key driver of profitability — expanded during the year.
Cardinal's size, with 21 offices and $1.45 billion in assets, puts it at the level that will certainly catch the attention of potential acquirers. Mercantile Bankshares, PNC Bank and Fulton Financial are among the much larger financial institutions that are interested in building a bigger presence in the Washington area, and Cardinal is probably on their lists of potential targets.

Chairman and CEO: Bernard H. Clineburg

2005 Financial Data

Net Income: $9,876,000
Asssets: $1,452,287,000 | Earnings Per Share: $0.44
Stockholder Equity: $147,879,000 | Annual Dividend: $0.01
Total employees: 445 | Local employees: 445