FSG BankFSG profits up in quarter
First Security Group, Inc., the parent company of FSG Bank in Chattanooga, continued to boost its profits this summer.
FSG, Chattanooga's biggest independent bank, said Tuesday it earned $927,000, or a penny per share, in the third quarter. In the same period a year ago, FSG lost $1.4 million, or 2 cents per share.
The third quarter was the second consecutive quarter of profits after years of losses for FSG. In the first nine months of 2014, FSG earned $1.5 million, or 2 cents per share.
"We made additional progress building a balance sheet that will produce sustainable, predictable and consistently improving earnings," FSG President Michael Kramer said.
Tennessee ranks 15th best in taxes
Tennessee has the 15th best tax climate for business among the 50 states, the Tax Foundation said Tuesday. The Volunteer State's rank remained unchanged from last year's ranking.
The Business Climate Index, now in its 11th edition, measures how well structured each state's code is by analyzing over 100 tax variables. States are punished for overly complex, burdensome, and economically harmful tax codes but are rewarded for transparent and neutral tax codes that do not distort business decisions.
Georgia ranked 36th and Alabama ranked 28th in the index. The Tax Foundation said Wyoming had the best business tax climate.