Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff on Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $81.8 million, up 48 percent from the same quarter last year.
The publicly traded bank holding company (Nasdaq: SFNC) said it had earnings of 84 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 87 cents per share.
The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 65 cents per share.
Its revenue net of interest expense was $233.9 million, also beating forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $188.7 million.
“We are very pleased with our operating results this quarter,” Chairman and CEO George A. Makris said in a news release. “We continue to have very strong loan demand opportunities although our customers are displaying cautious optimism regarding the uncertainty in the world economy today and interest rate adjustments that may not appear to be related precisely to economic data.”
The company said “core earnings” were $84 million, up 49% from the same quarter last year. Core diluted earnings per share were 87 cents, up 43% from the same quarter last year.
The company noted that provision expense increased by $15 million primarily related to the charge-off of a participation interest in a shared national credit to White Star Petroleum LLC of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
White Star, an oil and gas company, filed bankruptcy earlier this year and in September sold its assets and operations to Contango Oil & Gas Co. of Houston for $132.5 million.
“I have mentioned for some time now that asset quality is one of our top priorities, and the loss we experienced as a result of the White Star bankruptcy is certainly disappointing,” Makris said. “In response to it, we have, among other things, made changes to our credit underwriting and approval processes that are consistent with the conservative credit culture at Simmons.
Simmons said it will complete its previously announced acquisition of The Landrum Co. of Columbia, Missouri, on Oct. 31. Landrum is the parent company of Landmark Bank, which has $3.3 billion in assets.
The company also announced that its board of directors approved a $60 million stock repurchase program that will end on Oct. 31, 2021. The new program replaces its existing stock repurchase program announced on July 23, 2012.
Simmons said its third-quarter efficiency ratio was 43.77%, down from 53.47% in the same quarter last year. Total deposits were $13.5 billion at Sept. 30, up 11%, since Sept. 30, 2018, primarily due to its Reliance Bank merger. It had total consolidated assets of about $17.8 billion as of Sept. 30.
Simmons First National shares have decreased slightly since the beginning of the year. The stock has fallen nearly 9% in the last 12 months.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Sign up for Daily E-news
