UMB Bank’s earnings take a dive

Kansas City-based UMB Financial Corp.’s (Nasdaq: UMBF) fourth-quarter and 2018 earnings were adversely impacted by a large unexpected expense during the final three months of the year.

Officials cited a $48.1 million fourth-quarter loss on a single credit relationship, noting the unidentified entity has since entered bankruptcy proceedings. UMB intends to pursue the losses in and outside bankruptcy court, according to a news release.

“Strong asset quality has long been a hallmark of UMB and this event is certainly not typical for us,” UMB Chairman and CEO Mariner Kemper said in the release. “After a thorough review, we believe that the issues specific to this credit were isolated and that this charge-off does not point to deterioration in any particular sector. We will continue to evaluate our internal controls.”

The operator of two UMB Bank branches in Springfield reported full-year net income of $195.5 million, a 21 percent drop from $247.1 million in 2017. Diluted share earnings decreased to $3.93 from $4.96 a year earlier.

2018 financial notes:
    •    Fourth-quarter earnings dropped 77 percent to $25.5 million from $112 million a year earlier.
    •    Total interest income for the year climbed 18.6 percent to $732 million.
    •    Provision for loan losses rose 72.6 percent to $70.8 million from $41 million in 2017.

As of Dec. 31, UMB’s assets were $23.4 billion and deposits were $19.3 billion, according to the release.

UMBF shares were trading at $65.56 as of 9:12 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $57 to $82.14.