Simmons Quarterly Earnings Rise As Pine Bluff Bank Completes Two Out-of-State Acquisitions

Simmons First National Corp.’s first quarter earnings rose 44% as the Pine Bluff-based regional banking group completed the acquisition of Liberty Bancshares in Springfield, Mo., and Union City, Tenn.-based Community First Bancshares in the first three months of fiscal 2015.

For the period ended March 31, the Arkansas regional bank posted second quarter net income of $8.7 million, or 39 cents per share, compared to net income of $4.3 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago.

Overall, Simmons reported core earnings of $15.7 million for the first quarter of 2015, up 110%, compared to $8.2 million in the same quarter last year. Diluted core earnings per share were 70 cents per share, an increase of 24 cents or 52%. Core earnings exclude $7.0 million in net after-tax expenses.

“We are pleased with our integration planning and execution and continue to make good progress with our efficiency initiatives, both in revenue enhancement and in expense control,” said Simmons Chairman and CEO George A. Makris, Jr. “We welcome our newest associates from Community First and Liberty and look forward to continued growth and profitability in their legacy markets.”

Here are other highlights of Simmons’ quarterly earnings report:

• Total loans, including those acquired, were $4.6 billion at March 31, 2015, an increase of $2.3 billion, or 95.9%, compared to the same period in 2014.
• At March 31, 2015, total deposits were $6.3 billion, an increase of $2.6 billion, or 69.3%, compared to the same period in 2014. Total non-time deposits were $4.8 billion, or 76% of total deposits.
• Simmons’ net interest income for the first quarter of 2015 was $53.0 million, an increase of $11.4 million, or 27.5%, from the same period of 2014. This increase was driven by growth in the legacy loan portfolio and earning assets acquired through the Delta Trust, Community First and Liberty transactions. Net interest margin was 4.34% for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, a 20 basis point decline from the same quarter of 2014.
• Non-interest income for the first quarter was $18.5 million, an increase of $9.3 million compared to the first quarter of 2014.
• Stockholders’ equity was $1 billion, book value per share was $33.96 and tangible book value per share was $21.82.

Simmons shares were up 24 cents to $44.48 in early trading on Thursday. Shares of the Arkansas regional bank have traded between $35.13 and $46.38 over the past year.