Georgia-Carolina Bancshares, Inc., parent company of First Bank of Georgia, today announced 2014 second quarter income of $963,000, or $0.27 per diluted common share, for the three months ended June 30, 2014, compared to $2,119,000 or $0.59 per diluted common share, for the three months ended June 30, 2013. For the year to date period ending June 30, 2014, the Company earned $1,815,000, or $0.50 per diluted common share, compared to $4,426,000 or $1.24 per diluted common share for the same period in 2013. During the second quarter of 2014, the Company announced a pending merger with State Bank Financial Corporation, which is anticipated to close in early 2015, and incurred merger related charges of $641,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2014. The majority of these charges were incurred during the second quarter. The reported net income for Georgia-Carolina Bancshares, Inc. excluding the merger charges were $1,430,000, or $0.39 per diluted common share for the second quarter of 2014, and $2,287,000, or $0.63 diluted earnings per common share for the first six months of 2014.

Remer Y. Brinson III, President & CEO of the Company, stated "We are pleased to report sound earnings for the first half of 2014 and continue to see a return to a more stable economic environment. We have seen strong loan demand over the past three quarters and have seen our asset quality measures return to very healthy levels. Bank loans have grown by over 10% during the first half of 2014 while core deposits have continued to grow also."

"The decline in net income for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 from last year is primarily due to the merger charges, smaller credit provisions to the allowance for loan losses and decreased mortgage related income."

"Mortgage originations have improved during the second quarter of 2014, following three quarters of a very soft market," Brinson continued. "However, mortgage originations and related income for the first half of 2014 are well below the first half of 2013, when the Company reported record profitability."

Georgia-Carolina Bancshares' Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.045 per share of common stock payable on August 19, 2014, to shareholders of record as of August 12, 2014.

Georgia-Carolina Bancshares' common stock is quoted on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "GECR." First Bank of Georgia conducts banking operations through offices in Richmond County (Augusta), Columbia County (Evans and Martinez), and McDuffie County (Thomson), Georgia and operates mortgage origination offices in Augusta and Savannah, Georgia.