Bear State profits jump 80%, benefits from acquisition of rural Missouri bank
by July 21, 2016 3:43 pm 212 views
Profits at Bear State Financial Inc. reported Thursday (July 21) nearly doubled year ago results as the Little Rock community bank said it benefitted from strong mortgage loan growth and operational and organizational efficiencies from its autumn acquisition of Springfield, Mo.-based Metropolitan National Bank.
For the period ended June 30, Bear State reported quarterly earnings of $4.5 million, or 12 cents per share, up 80% from earnings of $2.5 million or eight cents per share in the same period a year ago.
“Our second quarter results demonstrated the strength of Bear State’s value proposition, of competing with more than price, and the successes we have experienced with the integration of Metropolitan,” said Mark McFatridge, Bear State’s president and CEO. “This is evident by our record mortgage production and profitability, while continuing to diversify within our loan portfolio and maintaining our strong credit culture.”
According to McFatridge, the successful integration of MNB into Bear State has already been accretive to earnings and exceeded the company’s expectations on cost savings from synergies. He also said the former First Federal Bank of Harrison is also making progress on multiple strategic initiatives.
According to bank officials, Bear State completed the consolidation of the Missouri Bank into the Bear State Bank charter and converted MNB’s systems to the bank’s core technology platform in late February. Bear State closed the $70 million deal on Oct. 1, 2015, and now operates 49 branches and four loan production offices throughout Arkansas, Southwest Missouri and Southeast Oklahoma.
“We remain focused on executing our strategic priorities designed to strengthen customer relationships and capitalizing on technology and innovation which will positively impact the company going forward,” said McFatridge, the former CEO of the Metropolitan National who took the reins at Bear State after last year’s acquisition.
Following are key Bear State highlights for the second quarter.
• Total assets were $1.99 billion in the second quarter, a 37% increase compared to $1.45 billion a year ago. Total loans were $1.48 billion at June 30, a spike of 41% or $428 million compared to year ago results.
• Total deposits were $1.64 billion at June 30, a 31% increase compared to $1.2 billion in same period of 2015. The increase in assets, loans and deposits was primarily due to the MNB acquisition, bank officials said.
• Total stockholders’ equity was $229 million at June 30, a 31% increase from $175 million in the second quarter of 2015. Tangible common stockholders’ equity in the second quarter was $177 million, up 25% from $142 million a year ago.
Bear shares (NASDAQ: BSF) closed Thursday at $9.89, down 7 cents. The Arkansas bank’s shares have traded in the range of $7.61 and $11.39 over the past 52 weeks.