Simmons First National Corp., the holding company that last year expanded its Springfield market presence with two acquisitions, posted an increase in third-quarter earnings.
The Pine Bluff, Ark.-based company (Nasdaq: SFNC) reported net income available to common shareholders of $23.4 million, an 8.5 percent bump from $21.6 million a year earlier. Diluted share earnings rose 4 cents to 76 cents, according to a news release.
The operator of Simmons Bank
in September completed its $77 million buyout of Athens, Tenn.-based Citizens National Bancorp Inc. The acquisition-heavy company in 2015 bought Springfield companies Liberty Bancshares Inc. and Ozark Trust and Investment Corp.
Third-quarter financial notes:
• The company incurred $953,000 in after-tax expenses related to noncore items.
• The latest quarter brought year-to-date net income to $69.8 million, a 38.7 percent increase compared with the same time in 2015.
• Provision for loan losses rose by $6.7 million to $8.3 million.
As of June 30, Simmons Bank ranked sixth in Springfield metropolitan statistical area deposit market share, according to
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data. The company held $369.3 million in deposits, or 4.1 percent of the market share.
Simmons
led the market in local U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loans, based on the number of loans in the year-end report released by the SBA’s Springfield office. The company had 51 loans in SBA’s fiscal 2016 totaling $21.7 million.
The company held assets of $8.2 billion and deposits of $6.6 billion as of Sept. 30, according to the release.
SFNC shares were trading at $50.15 as of 9:27 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $38.30 to $58.75.