BancorpSouth reports increase in quarterly income

BancorpSouth, which has operations in the Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas areas, reported second quarter net income of $20.75 million, slightly ahead of the $20.62 million for the same quarter of 2012.

For the first half of the year, the Tupelo, Miss.-based bank company posted income of $41.6 million, down from the $43.5 million in the first half of 2012.

"Much progress was made during the second quarter towards improving our cost structure and turning our attention toward growth," noted Dan Rollins, BancorpSouth CEO, in the earnings statement. “We are also pleased to report quarter-over-quarter loan growth for the first time in over three years. We've consistently communicated to our team the importance of growing our Company while improving operating efficiency."

Reducing the bank’s portfolio of problem loans is also helping the bank’s ledger. The second quarter report included only $3 million in a provision for credit losses, better than the $6 million in the second quarter of 2012. Non-performing loans held by the bank have declined from $266.9 million as of June 30, 2012, to $167.9 million as of June 30, 2013.

The bank also said a “Voluntary Early Retirement Program” cost the bank $10.9 million in the quarter, but is expected to result in pre-tax annual savings of $9 million.

Following are other key items in the earnings report.
• The bank generated net loan growth of $97.2 million, or 4.5% annualized.

• Mortgage production of $435 million and mortgage sales of $424.4 million, contributed to mortgage lending revenue of $17.9 million for the quarter.

• Insurance commission revenue was $25.9 million, which represents an increase of $2.9 million, or 12.6%, on a comparable-quarter basis.

• Net interest revenue was $98.2 million for the second quarter of 2013, a decrease of 6.2% from $104.7 million for the second quarter of 2012.

• Non-interest revenue was $76.1 million for the second quarter of 2013, compared with $66.5 million for the second quarter of 2012.

BancorpSouth is a financial holding company with $13.2 billion in assets. The company operates 292 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, including an insurance location in Illinois.

BancorpSouth shares (NYSE: BXS) closed Monday at $19.07. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $20.42 high to a $12.55 low.