Simmons Bank's profits drop 28% in Q1

Pine Bluff, Arkansas-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) reported a decrease in profits to start the year.

The company, which has four Simmons Bank branches in Springfield, recorded $45.6 million in net income available to common shareholders during the first quarter, a 28.2% drop from $65.1 million a year earlier, according to a news release. Diluted share earnings dropped to 36 cents from 58 cents in first-quarter 2022.

"While the continued challenges from rising interest rates, coupled this quarter with heightened market volatility, brought amplified attention to the financial services industry, our focus remained on the fundamentals that have served us well during our 120-year history," said Bob Fehlman, Simmons Bank CEO, in the release. "Consistent with industry trends, we experienced migration to higher rate deposits throughout the quarter, resulting in an increase in the cost of deposits. Despite these challenges, we continued to operate from a position of strength given our solid liquidity position."

As of March 31, Simmons Bank's assets were $27.6 billion and deposits were $22.5 billion, according to the release. The company has 231 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

SFNC shares were trading at $15.88 as of 11:05 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $15 to $25.88 per share.