Arkansas at the Top of ROA, ROE Rankings

In the third quarter of 2011, Arkansas banks had a return on their average assets of 1.12 percent, ranking No. 1 among the seven states in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s Eighth District.

Arkansas is the only state wholly in the Eighth District. The other six states are partially in the Eighth and partially in another.

That figure represents an increase of 0.57 percent in the state’s collective ROA from the third quarter in 2010.

Many banks generally consider their annual ROA percentage a quality indicator of their success and performance.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. defines ROA as “net income after taxes and extraordinary items [annualized] as a percent of average total assets.”

The collective return on average assets for the district as a whole was 0.83 percent. The U.S. average was 0.92 percent.

For the same quarter, Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank had a 0.7 percent ROA; Decatur State Bank had a -8.68 percent ROA; Jonesboro-based Liberty Bank of Arkansas had a 0.72 percent ROA; and Van Buren-based Citizens’ Bank & Trust Co. had a 1.41 percent ROA.

In the category of return on average equity, Arkansas banks were collectively at 10.06 percent for the third quarter of 2011.

That figure ranks No. 2 among the states in the Eighth District. Arkansas’ ROE was up 0.68 percent from the comparable quarter in 2010.

In the entire region, only Indiana reported a lower ROE than the previous year.

The FDIC defines ROE as “annualized net income as a percent of average equity on a consolidated basis.

The collective return on average equity for the district was 7.81 percent. The U.S. average was 8.31 percent.

For the same quarter, Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock had an ROE of -10.54 percent; Bank of the Ozarks had a 28.05 percent ROE; Searcy-based First Security Bank had a 22.67 percent ROE; and Greenwood-based Farmers Bank had an ROE of 3.21 percent.