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Simmons Reports Soaring Q4 Profits, Closure of 12 Branches

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Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff (Nasdaq: SFNC) on Tuesday reporting soaring fourth-quarter profits and the closure of 12 branches in a rightsizing effort.

Net income in the period was $48.3 million, up from $23.9 million a year ago. Profits a year ago were lower due in part to a $10.5 million FDIC special assessment and a pre-tax loss of about $20.2 million on the sale of low-yield securities.

The holding company for Simmons Bank reported earnings of 38 cents per share. Adjusted earnings came to 39 cents per share.

The results beat Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 35 cents per share.

Simmons posted revenue of $369.5 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $208.5 million, also beating Street forecasts.

The company said it closed 12 branches in the quarter as part of its annual “branch optimization review.” The San Antonio Business Journal reported that Simmons closed branches in all major Texas markets and completely exited San Antonio and Austin. Branch rightsizing contributed $1.6 million to net income in the quarter.

A company earnings release did not provide further details on the closures, which leave Simmons with 222 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

Total loans at the end of the fourth quarter were $17 billion, up 1.2% from a year ago. Loans were down 1.7% from the third quarter of 2024 primarily due to “normal” seasonality in the company’s agricultural and mortgage warehouse loan portfolios.

Simmons finished the year with total deposits of $21.9 billion, down 1.6% from $22.4 billion a year ago. Deposits were dipped about 0.2% from the third quarter of 2024 levels, which the bank attributed primarily to a decline in time deposits and brokered deposits, offset in part by increases in interest bearing transaction accounts.

For the full year of 2024, Simmons reported profit of $152.7 million, or $1.21 per share. Revenue was reported as $775.6 million.

The bank finished 2024 with $26.9 billion in assets, up 1.5% from $27.3 billion from the previous year.

George Makris Jr. returned as the company’s CEO on Jan. 1. after holding the position from 2014 through 2022. Bob Fehlman stepped down from the role after two years to focus on personal interests and family medical issues, the bank said.

In a statement, Makris said the “encouraging” fourth-quarter results give the bank a good foundation to build on in 2025.

“While we are cautiously optimistic as we enter the new year, we are also watching several factors that could impact us in 2025: a new administration and how its policies affect domestic growth; inflation and employment levels; the trajectory of short-term interest rates; regulatory changes and their effect on our operating costs and growth; insurance availability and costs for both commercial enterprises and consumers; and population migration’s effects on housing trends geographically,” he said.

Shares of the company rose about 1% in after-hours trading Tuesday to $23.04. Over the past year, shares were up nearly 17%.

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