Metropolitan National Bank Turns Another Quarterly Profit

Metropolitan National Bank continued its progress back to financial health.

The Little Rock-based bank, which is being acquired by Simmons First National Corp., announced a third quarter profit of $1.59 million. For the first three quarters of 2013, the bank has posted $3.53 million in net income.

“We are extremely proud of the progress Metropolitan has made over the past five and a half years; our journey has not been an easy one,” said Lunsford W. Bridges, President and CEO of Metropolitan National Bank.

Metropolitan, which has been under regulatory scrutiny for the past five years, reported that its Tier 1 Capital Ratio as of September 30th had improved to 6.80% and its Risk Based Capital Ratio to 11.26%.

One year ago, the Tier 1 Capital Ratio was 6.15% and the Risk Based Capital Ratio was 10.09%.

In September, Metropolitan was acquired by Pine Bluff-based Simmons First for $53.6 million. Metropolitan’s parent company, Rogers Bancshares, had filed for bankruptcy protection following the death of its principal owner Doyle Rogers.

The merger is expected to close at the end of December 2013 and the two banks will consolidate during the first quarter of 2014.

“The merger of Metropolitan National Bank and Simmons First is going exceptionally well, our two companies share similar values, culture and principles of community banking. We are working closely with the leadership team at Simmons First National Bank to make the transition as smooth as possible,” Bridges said.