Bank of the Ozarks quarterly net income hits record $90.5 million, total assets top $20 billion

Regional financial and banking concern Bank of the Ozarks continued its strong growth as second quarter net income reached a record $90.5 million, easily eclipsing year ago results and matching Wall Street expectations.

For the period ended June 30, Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks reported second quarter earnings of $90.5 million, or 73 cents per share, a robust 66.2% jump from $54.5 million, or 60 cents per share in the same period a year ago. A survey of Wall Street analysts had expected the bank to report second quarter earnings of 73 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.

“We are very pleased to report our results for the second quarter of 2017, including quarterly records in net income, net interest income and service charge income, a 4.99% net interest margin, a 35.3% efficiency ratio and excellent asset quality and growth in non-purchased loans and leases,” longtime Bank of the Ozarks Chairman and CEO George Gleason said in a statement.

Bank of the Ozarks’ strong second quarter earnings comes nearly two weeks after the state’s largest banking group by assets completed its previously announced reorganization efforts, which company officials said would create a more efficient corporate structure by eliminating the bank’s holding company.

Although none of the bank’s business operations, board of directors or executive team changed as a result of the reorganization, the bank’s parent holding company is now folded into Bank of the Ozark’s publicly trading operating company that trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol “OZRK.”

Here are other highlights of the bank’s second quarter results.
• Total loans and leases, including purchased loans, were $15.2 billion for the second quarter, a 56.1% increase from $9.7 billion a year ago. The unfunded balance of closed loans totaled $11.9 billion at June 30, 2017, a 61.7% increase from $7.3 billion at June 30, 2016.

• Net interest income for the second quarter of 2017 was $202.1 million, a 69.8% increase from $119 million for the second quarter of 2016. Non-interest income for the second quarter of 2017 increased 40.1% to $31.8 million compared to $22.7 million for the second quarter of 2016.

• The Little Rock bank’s deposits grew 59.3% to $16.2 billion in the second quarter versus $10.2 billion at in the same period of 2016. Total assets were $20.1 billion for the period ended June 30, a 63.4% spike from $12.3 billion a year ago.

• Common stockholders’ equity was $3.26 billion at June 30, 2017, a 109.4% increase from $1.56 billion in the second quarter of 2016. Tangible common stockholders’ equity was $2.54 billion for the period, up 80.9% from $1.41 billion a year ago.

In Wednesday’s earning morning session on the NASDAQ, Bank of the Ozarks’ shares were up 26 cents at $46.81. Over the past 52 weeks, the Little Rock bank’s stock has traded in the range of $35.11 as a low and a yearly high of $56.86 per share.