Guaranty exits TARP

Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: GFED) has completed its repayment of a warrant issued to the U.S. Department of the Treasury through the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Springfield-based holding company of Guaranty Bank branches has agreed to repurchase the warrant for roughly $2 million. Issued by Guaranty in 2009, the warrant gave the U.S. Treasury the right to purchase 459,459 shares of the company's common stock at $5.55 per share, according to a news release.

"We are pleased to have been able to negotiate a fair price with the Treasury on the repurchase of the warrant," Guaranty President and CEO Shaun Burke said in the release. "This investment evidences our financial strength and will eliminate the shareholder dilution that would have occurred had the warrant been exercised rather than repurchased."

Last June, Guaranty repurchased $5 million of the $17 million in preferred stock sold to the U.S. Treasury in 2009. Last month, the federal department sold the remainder of the stock at a private auction to entities not related to Guaranty, according to the release.

Guaranty posted first-quarter profits of $953,000, a 14.3 percent increase compared to $834,000 in the same quarter a year ago. The company's shares were trading at $9.88 as of 10:10 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $6.29 to $10.61.