Earnings up for BancorpSouth, but income misses Wall Street expectations

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) 207 views 

BancorpSouth posted gains in key revenue categories but non-diluted earnings of 32 cents per share narrowly missed the consensus analyst estimate of 33 cents per share.

Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth has operations in the Northwest Arkansas and Fort Smith and Fort Smith areas.

The bank holding company reported quarterly net operating income of $30.8 million, with a pre-tax hit of $3.1 million resulting from “anti-money laundering” compliance issues.

Net interest revenue was $105.6 million for the third quarter of 2014, up 5.4% from $100.2 million for the third quarter of 2013 and up of 2.5% from $103.1 million for the second quarter of 2014. Noninterest revenue was $69.3 million for the third quarter of 2014, compared with $62.5 million for the third quarter of 2013 and $69.8 million for the second quarter of 2014. 

For the first nine months of 2014, the bank reported net income of $88.1 million, or 92 cents per diluted share, compared to $66.4 million, or 70 cents per diluted share, for the same period in 2013.

Helping drive revenue was the bank’s loan activity. The bank noted in its third quarter earnings statement that net loan growth totaled $198.9 million, up 8.5% on an annualized basis. It marked the sixth consecutive quarter of net loan growth.

The bank is also reporting that bad loan provisions and real estate holdings continue to move in the right direction. Non-performing loans and leases declined $4.7 million, or 6.4%, compared to the second quarter of 2014, while non-performing assets fell $17.3 million, or 13.4%, over the same period.

Other real estate owned fell $12.6 million to $42.7 million during the third quarter of 2014 from $55.3 million at June 30, 2014. Sales of real estate owned during the third quarter of 2014 resulted in a net loss of $3.3 million compared to a net loss of $1.1 million for the second quarter of 2014. At Sept. 30, 2014, other real estate owned was carried at 39.8% of the aggregate loan balances at the time of foreclosure, compared with 44.2% at June 30, 2014.

BancorpSouth shares (NYSE: BXS) closed Monday (Oct. 20) closed at $20.10, down 1 penny. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged from a $26.24 high to a $19.22 low.