Arkansas’ ROA Higher Than National Average

In the first quarter of 2008, Arkansas banks collectively had a return on their average assets of 1.01 percent, ranking as No. 4 of the seven states in the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s Eighth District. The district includes all of Arkansas and parts of six other states.

Arkansas’ ROA was down 0.02 percent from the first quarter a year earlier. Most states in the Eighth District reported lower ROA than the previous year.

Many banks measure success and performance by their annual ROA percentage. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. defines ROA as “net income after taxes and extraordinary items [annualized] as a percent of average total assets.”

For the same quarter, Arvest Bank of Fayetteville had an ROA of 1.01 percent; Chambers Bank of North Arkansas had a 0.59 percent ROA; Benefit Bank of Fort Smith had a 1.45 percent ROA; and Community First Bank of Harrison had a 1.00 percent ROA.

The collective return on average assets for the district was 0.85 percent, and the U.S. average was 0.68 percent.