Arkansas banks top ROA ranking in Eighth District

In the second quarter of 2018, the average return on assets (ROA) for Arkansas banks was 1.64%, ranking the state’s lenders as the top performers among the seven states that make up the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s Eighth District. The state’s collective ROA was up 0.28% from the second quarter of 2017.

ROA, as defined by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is “net income after taxes and extraordinary items [annualized] as a percent of average assets.” Banks generally consider their annual ROA percentage a top indicator of their health and profitability.

Arkansas banks are ahead of the Eighth District average and the national average, both of which are 1.34%.

For the same quarter, which ended June 30, the best year-to-date ROA among Arkansas banks belonged to Centennial Bank of Conway at 2.92%. That was followed by Little Rock-based Bank OZK at 2.75% and The First National Bank of Fort Smith at 2.6%.

In the category of return on average equity, or ROE, Arkansas banks ranked third at 11.95% in the second quarter of 2018. That represents an increase of 1.53% from the second quarter of 2018.

Missouri is the top-performing state in the Eighth District in the category, with an ROE in the second quarter of 13.21%.

ROE, as defined by the FDIC, is “annualized net income as a percent of average equity on a consolidated basis.”

Among Arkansas banks, Legacy National Bank of Springdale had an ROE of 11.07%, First Western Bank of Booneville had an ROE of 9.41% and Fayetteville-chartered Signature Bank of Arkansas had an ROE of 7.73%.