Simmons First 2021 net income up 6.4% over 2020

Pine Bluff-based Simmons First National Corp. on Thursday (Jan. 27) reported full year net income of $271.2 million, up 6.4% from the $254.9 million in 2020. The $2.46 earnings per share for the year narrowly beat the consensus estimate of $2.45.

Fourth quarter net income was $48.2 million, below the $53 million in the same quarter of 2020. Earnings per share of 42 cents was better than the consensus estimate of 41 cents per share. Revenue in the quarter was $217.33 million, below the $220.869 million in the same quarter of 2020.

The full year and fourth quarter results included $13.6 million in merger related costs largely attributable to the acquisitions of Landmark Community Bank and Triumph Bancshares which were closed in October 2021. The deal gives Simmons a large footprint in Tennessee and the eighth largest bank operation in the state based on deposit market share.

Simmons also announced in late 2021 a deal to acquire Spirit of Texas Bancshares which primarily has operations in Austin, College Station, Houston and San Antonio. That deal is expected to close an be fully integrated later in 2022.

“Simmons delivered record earnings in 2021 while continuing to navigate the headwinds brought about by the pandemic and the resulting impact on economic and business conditions,” said George Makris, Jr., Simmons’ chairman and CEO, said in the earnings statement.

Makris also noted in the report that business conditions began to turn positive in late 2021.

“While overall loan growth was muted for much of the year given the high levels of liquidity throughout the system, we are beginning to see positive signs that indicate an increase in business activity and a return to more normalized loan demand. Newly funded loans and advances topped $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter while unfunded commitments, considered a leading indicator of future loan growth, rose 31 percent during the quarter,” Makris said.

Following are other items in the quarterly earnings report.
• Return on assets, a key metric in the banking sector, was 1.15% at the end of 2021, down slightly from 1.18% at the end 2020.
• Total assets as of Dec. 31 were $24.724 billion, above the $22.359 billion at the end of 2020.
• Total deposits as of Dec. 31 were $19.366 billion, above the $16.987 billion at the end of 2020.
• Total loans as of Dec. 31 were $12.012 billion, below the $12.9 billion at the end of 2020. The loan portfolio included $9.167 billion in real estate/construction loans, $2.16 billion in commercial loans, and $355.37 million in consumer loans.
• As of Dec. 31, the allowance for credit losses was $205.3 million, an improvement compared with the $238.1 million at the end of 2020.

Simmons First National Corp. is a financial holding company with operations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Simmons shares (NASDAQ: SFNC) closed Thursday at $28.55, down 68 cents. During the past 52 weeks the share price has ranged between $33.43 and $24.33.