Finance

Walmart updates ethics report, CEO says company will never be satisfied with status quo

Walmart Inc. President and CEO Doug McMillon said in his recent note to shareholders the retail giant is on a mission to be the most trusted retailer. He said customers…

Signature Bank of Arkansas returning to Rogers with branch in Pinnacle Hills

Signature Bank of Arkansas is expanding to Rogers, a move that will once again give the $600 million-asset bank a branch in each of the region’s four largest cities. The…

Southern Bancorp raises nearly $18 million from banks, private investors

Little Rock-based Southern Bancorp has raised $17.75 million in funding from several of the region’s top banks and private investors as part of the rural bank holding group’s capital campaign…

Simmons First posts record first quarter profit of $51.3 million

Simmons First National Corp., which pushed its reach into Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado in 2017, reported that quarterly profits more than doubled from a year ago as the Pine Bluff-based…

Paragould’s FNB enters Little Rock market with purchase of once-troubled Onebanc

First National Bank announced a deal Monday (April 23) to acquire the once-troubled Onebanc of Little Rock, further expanding the Northeast Arkansas’ community bank’s fast-growing footprint into the state’s largest…

First Security Bank tops list of best ROA ratios

For the sixth time in the past seven years, family owned First Security Bank of Searcy has the best return on assets (ROA) of the privately owned banks doing business…

Stone Bank opens fourth Arkansas branch

Stone Bank has opened its fourth bank branch in Arkansas with the renovation of the 18,000-square-foot second floor of the Three Financial Centre building at 900 S. Shackleford Road in…

Walmart’s top five execs paid $64.722 million in fiscal 2017

Walmart Inc. exceeded the $500 billion revenue threshold for the first time in the company’s 53-year history. So it’s no surprise the company’s top five executives, who benefit from performance-based…

Fort Smith-based bank crafting community image in NWA

The more things change, the more they stay the same. For The First National Bank of Fort Smith, those are reliable words to live by. The Fort Smith market leader’s…

Centennial Bank parent company posts record first quarter income of $73 million

Home Bancshares Inc. closed out the first three months of 2018 with record first quarter earnings, largely boosted by strong loan growth from the bank’s commercial real estate lending arm…

BancorpSouth to acquire Houston bank in $145 million deal

Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Bank announced after the close of market on Wednesday (April 18) it is expanding deeper into Texas with the purchase of Houston-based Icon Bank in a stock-and-cash…

Report: New union contract may leave ABF Freight in ‘market share losing position’

The first independent analysis of the proposed five-year labor contract between Fort Smith-based ABF Freight and the Teamsters suggests the union negotiators won the day. An April 13 investor note…

Bank deposits rise in Northeast Arkansas, growth mirrors other regional gains

Bank deposits have experienced double-digit growth during the past seven years in Northeast Arkansas. As of mid-2017, there were $2.972 billion in bank deposits in the Jonesboro metro, an 18%…

Consumer Price Index rises 2.4% in March

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 2.4% in March, from the same month in 2017, and was the largest year-over-year rise since March 2017, according to the…

First quarter income up 27% for Bank of the Ozarks, interest income sets new record

It was another record quarter for Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks. The company on Thursday (April 12) posted first-quarter net income of $113.1 million, up 27% compared to the…

Residential down payments in region lower than U.S. average

The average homebuyer in Northwest Arkansas put down 5.5% on a home purchased in the fourth quarter of 2017, according to a recent report by California-based Attom Data Solutions. That’s…

ATRS, others agree to $35 million federal court settlement with Facebook

Facebook Inc. on Monday (April 9) reached a $35 million pact with the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ATRS) and other class-action plaintiffs concerning allegations that the social media giant propped…

Stephens, Economics Arkansas partner to create free enterprise education program

Little Rock-based financial services firm Stephens Inc. has partnered with the nonprofit Economics Arkansas to create an educational program for PreK-12 students across the state, beginning in the 2018-19 school…

UA conference attendees discuss blockchain disruptions, benefits

Blockchain is seen as another disruptive technology – along with machine learning, internet of things and virtual reality – that has the potential to impact nearly all business sectors. There…

Armor Bank announces Chad May as Chief Executive Officer

Forrest City-based Armor Bank and its holding company, Big Creek Bancshares Inc., announced Friday (April 6) the appointment of Chad May as CEO. May will be based in Little Rock,…