Despite a fourth-quarter settlement of a class-action lawsuit, Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Inc. (NYSE: BXS) boosted its 2015 profits 9 percent to $127.5 million, or $1.33 per diluted share, from $116.8 million, or $1.21 per share, in the previous year.
“During 2015, our constant focus on expense control allowed us to keep total noninterest expense essentially flat for the year,” BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO Dan Rollins said in the release, noting the settlement related to overdraft fees had a negative impact on expenses.
The 2010 suit filed in Florida by an Arkansas customer of the bank alleged BancorpSouth posted debit card and ATM transactions from higher amounts to lower amounts, rather than in chronological order, in order maximize fees paid by customers, according to a report from the
Biz Buzz publication. BancorpSouth agreed to a $24 million settlement, $16.5 million of which was incurred in the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the operator of six BancorpSouth branches in Springfield posted net income of $21.2 million, a roughly 26 percent decrease from $28.7 million in the same quarter of 2014, according to the release.
As of Dec. 31, BancorpSouth reported $13.7 billion in assets and $11.2 billion in deposits. The company operates over 240 branches and mortgage, insurance and loan production offices in Missouri and eight other states, according to the release.
BXS shares were trading at $19.77 as of 10:27 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $19.20 to $27.23.
