Arkansas banks report $488M net income in Q1

According to a recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) report, net income for 81 FDIC-insured Arkansas banks in the first quarter this year was $488 million, essentially unchanged from $489 million in the same period of 2023.

Arkansas’ three public banks were the most profitable through March this year:

• Little Rock-based Bank OZK had the most profit with $175.5 million, up 3.35% from $169.8 million in the first quarter last year.
• Centennial Bank of Conway had a profit of $103.8 million, down 10.9% from $116.5 million in the same period last year.
• Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff posted a profit of $49.7 million, down 6.75% from $53.3 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Searcy-based First Security Bank ($29.4 million) and Arvest Bank of Fayetteville ($22.3 million) rounded out the state’s top five most profitable banks through March this year.

Following Arvest, among other banks headquartered in Northwest Arkansas, The First National Bank of Fort Smith ($9 million), Generations Bank in Rogers ($2.47 million) and Anstaff Bank in Green Forest ($2.4 million) were the most profitable in the first quarter.

Collectively, Arkansas banks’ total assets as of March 31 ($170.3 billion) grew 5.9% compared with the previous year ($160.7 billion).

Four Arkansas banks ended the first quarter this year with more than $20 billion in assets — Bank OZK ($36 billion), Fayetteville-chartered Arvest Bank ($26.3 billion), Simmons Bank ($27.3 billion) and Centennial Bank ($22.7 billion).

The new data also showed Arkansas bank deposits at the end of Q1 had a 7.4% annual growth rate to $140.1 billion and a two-year increase of 15.3% from $121.5 billion.

At the end of the first quarter, Bank OZK ($29.4 billion), Arvest Bank ($23 billion) and Simmons Bank ($22.5 billion) held the most deposits.