Bank of the Ozarks reports record profits, assets climb to nearly $19 billion

Bank of the Ozarks, which vaulted to the top spot as Arkansas’ largest bank in 2016, ended the year with record fourth quarter and yearly earnings as total deposits and assets grew to $15.6 billion and nearly $19 billion, respectively. The Little Rock bank reported financial results before Tuesday’s (Jan. 17) opening bell.

For the period ended Dec. 31, Bank of the Ozarks reported fourth quarter net income of $87.8 million, or 72 cents per share, up 70.6% from $51.5 million, or 57 cents a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected the Little Rock bank holding company to report consensus fourth quarter earnings of 69 cents per share.

“We are very pleased to report our record results for both the fourth quarter and full year of 2016, including quarterly and annual records in net income, diluted earnings per common share, net interest income, service charge income and trust income, as well as quarterly growth of $845 million in non-purchased loans and leases, an excellent 5.02% net interest margin, a superb 34.3% efficiency ratio and pristine asset quality,” exulted George Gleason, Bank of the Ozarks chairman and CEO.

For the full year, Bank of the Ozarks earnings was equal to the task. The Arkansas banking concern reported record net income of $270 million, a 48.1% increase from $182.3 million in 2015. Diluted earnings per common share rose 23.4% to $2.58, compared to $2.09 in the same period a year ago. Revenue came in at a tidy $703.9 million.

The bank’s robust 2016 results were largely boosted by the acquisitions of Atlanta-based Community & Southern Holdings and C1 Financial of St. Petersburg, Fla., first announced within weeks of each other in the fall of 2016. Bank of the Ozarks completed its all-stock pact and plan of merger to acquire Community & Southern Holdings Inc. on July 20 in a deal valued at nearly $800 million, or approximately $20.50 per fully diluted CSB share. At the close of the deal, CSB had approximately $3.9 billion of total assets, $3.1 billion of loans and $3.3 billion of deposits.

A day later, Bank of the Ozarks continued its southern U.S. acquisition spree and completed the purchase of C1 Financial Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at $402.5 million. C1 operated 32 Florida banking offices on the west coast of Florida and in Miami-Dade and Orange counties. The majority of the offices are located in Florida’s top six metropolitan markets. C1 had approximately $1.7 billion of total assets, $1.4 billion of loans and $1.3 billion of deposits.

Other highlights from the earnings report issued include:

• Total loans and leases, including purchased loans, were $14.56 billion at the end of fiscal 2016, a 74.7% increase from $8.33 billion in the same period of 2015. Non-purchased loans and leases were $9.61 billion in the fourth quarter, a 47.1% increase from $6.53 billion a year ago.
• Non-interest income for the fourth quarter of 2015 increased 9.5% to $30.5 million compared to $27.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2014.
• Deposits were $15.57 billion at the close of 2016, a 95.4% increase and nearly double year ago results of $7.97 billion. Total assets climbed to $18.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, a 91.2% increase from $9.88 billion in the same period of 2015.
• Common stockholders’ equity was $2.79 billion on Dec. 31, 2016, a 90.6% increase from $1.46 million at the close of 2015. Tangible common stockholders’ equity was $2.07 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 57.8% from $1.31 billion on Dec. 31, 2015.

During the past 52 weeks, the share price has ranged from a low of $33.51 to a high of $54.92 touched on Dec. 28.