Money Talk: Southern Bancorp Names Wewers New Chief Financial Officer

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SOUTHERN BANCORP NAMES WEWERS NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Southern Bancorp Inc. announced that Christopher M. Wewers has joined its executive leadership team as chief financial officer.

Wewers succeeds former CFO Robert Cern, who retired in 2014, and former board member and interim CFO Daniel Kohler who served in the position during an extensive national search.

Wewers recently served as Executive Vice President and COO of Bear State Bank, and prior to that served as President and CEO of First Federal Bank, located in Harrison. Wewers also previously served as CFO of Summit Bank in Arkadelphia.

“I’m excited to welcome Chris to the Southern Bancorp family,” said Darrin Williams, CEO of Southern Bancorp, Inc. “He brings to the position an impressive record of strong financial leadership, a history of serving small communities in our markets and an energetic attitude that will serve Southern well as we continue to grow our mission-focused brand of financial services.”

REDDIN TO LEAD SIMMONS BANK PRIVATE BANKING GROUP
Simmons Bank named Matt Reddin as President of its Private Banking Group. Reddin brings more than 12 years of industry experience to the position.

“We are extremely excited to announce the development of a Private Banking Group within Simmons Bank, and equally excited to have Matt Reddin join the Simmons Bank family to develop and lead this group,” said Philip Tappan, EVP for Financial Services.

“The Private Banking Group, under Matt’s leadership, will further enhance our ability to provide tailored banking services customized to individual circumstances, needs and wealth goals to customers throughout our multi-state footprint and complements our traditional banking and financial services offerings,” Tappan added.

DILLARD’S KEEPS MOMENTUM AS MOST ARKANSAS STOCKS GET CAUGHT IN SELL-OFF
U.S. stocks took a hard fall in late trading on Friday as interest rate fears spooked the Dow Jones and S&P 500 indices, dragging down publicly-traded Arkansas concerns almost across the board.

Yet, out of Friday’s late market sell-off, Dillard’s again was one of the biggest Arkansas advancers, continuing its march upward following the Little Rock retailer’s robust fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report in late February. For the period ended Dec. 31, Dillard’s reported fourth-quarter and yearly profits of $130 million and $331 million, respectively.

A week ago, the Dillard’s board handed out a cash dividend of six cents per share, payable on May 4 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2015. Since closing at $122.53 on Feb. 23, Dillard’s shares have gained 7.7% to close at $131.95 at Friday’s close.

Other winners in this week’s session included Arkansas’ regional banking rivals, Simmons First National, Bank of the Ozarks and Home Bancshares. Banking stocks rallied this week after 31 of the nation’s largest financial institutions passed the Federal Reserve’s so-called “stress test” that measures capital as a share of risk-weighted assets.

After Friday’s dip, still most banking stocks were back up in late trading Friday as several reports signaled that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates between June and September. Read more of our “Market Wrap” at this link.

BANK PROFITS RISE IN ARKANSAS BY 14%
Community bankers across the Natural State enjoyed a profitable 2014 accruing net income of $810 million among the 109 institutions. Profits rose from $707 million a year ago, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The FDIC splits the banks into two categories — those with less than $100 million in assets and those above $100 million. There were 28 banks in the state in the small bank category and together their net income totaled $18 million as of Dec. 31, 2014, up from $15 million in the year-ago period.

The majority of banks in Arkansas (81) are larger than $100 million in assets. This group had net income of $792 million as of Dec. 31, 2014, rising 14.6% from the $691 million reported in the year-ago period.

Read more on this story at this link.

LOCAL SBA OFFICE SEEKING BUSINESS LEADERS FOR 3-YEAR ‘GROWTH PLAN’ CLASS
The Arkansas office of the U.S. Small Business Administration is reaching out to local executives to participate in a special project that will help create a three-year, strategic growth plan tailored to help their small businesses grow, officials said.

The trademarked curriculum, called the “StreetWise Steps to Small Business Growth,” is part of the SBA’s Emerging Leaders Initiative, a federal business training program new to Arkansas that focuses on early stage companies poised for growth “in historically challenged communities,” said Edward Haddock, the SBA’s Emerging Leader project manager. Read more here.