Money Talk: Bank of the Ozarks Kicks Off Earnings Period

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BANK OF THE OZARKS KICKS OFF EARNINGS PERIOD
Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks will kick off the first quarter earnings period for Arkansas’ publicly traded companies when the fast-growing regional banking and financial concern is expected to release its quarterly results Monday after the close of market.

During the first quarter, the Little Rock-based financial holding company completed its all-stock acquisition of New York-based Intervest Bancshares Corp., first announced in July 2014. The all-stock deal expands the regional bank’s footprint in New York and Florida, banking officials said.

Intervest, which formerly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange, was a nationally chartered commercial bank headquartered at One Rockefeller Plaza in New York City with six full-service banking offices in Clearwater and Gulfport, Fla. Bank of the Ozarks officials said the deal with the New York banking group is also expected to be accretive to the company’s diluted earnings per common share for the first 12 months after the transaction closes and thereafter.

A Wall Street favorite, Bank of the Ozarks is expected to report first quarter earnings of 42 cents per share, according to a survey of analysts by Thomson Reuters. The Little Rock bank reported 34 cents per share in the same period a year ago. Lowell-based J.B. Hunt Transport Services and Home Bancshares of Conway are also expected to release their first quarter financial statements this week.

CONSUMERS GAIN CONFIDENCE IN MOBILE BANKING, SLOWER TO PAY BY PHONE
As mobile phones have become an extension of the body, more consumers are gaining confidence in how they use these smart devices, especially when it comes to banking.

A new report from The Federal Reserve says 39% of phone owners with bank accounts use mobile banking, a 6% increase from last year. Of those surveyed, 94% use banking apps to check account balances and recent transactions, and 51% said they deposit checks on their smartphones, an increase of 13% from the previous year.

EX-IM BANK CHIEF: BANK NEEDED IN COMPETITIVE GLOBAL ECONOMY
A growing global middle class will provide opportunities for American exporters, but domestic companies will need support to compete with foreign firms who receive help from their own governments, the chairman and president of the Export-Import Bank said in a speech at the Clinton School of Public Service last week. Fred Hochberg described the Export-Import Bank as “the official export credit agency of the United States.” Read more from his talk at this link.

FDIC RELEASES Q4 ECONOMIC PROFILE FOR ALL 50 STATES
The FDIC has released its Fourth Quarter 2014 online State Profiles, which are formatted as a quarterly data sheet summation of economic and banking conditions for all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

Total Arkansas banking assets in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 rose to nearly $65.48 billion, up 5.5% from $62.05 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. To view the Arkansas FDIC profile, click here.