Lender reports income up 3.8%
Simmons’ assets climb to $17.9B
Simmons First National Corp., the holding company for Simmons Bank, reported Tuesday that net income rose 3.8% in the second quarter.
The company that just moved its corporate headquarters from Pine Bluff to Little Rock posted earnings of $55.6 million for the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $53.6 million for the same period last year.
Earnings per share remained unchanged at 58 cents. That matched the average earnings estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Simmons shares closed Tuesday at $24.77, up $1.55, or 6.68% on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Its shares have traded between $22.08 and $32.45 in the past year.
The bank reported total assets of $17.9 billion, up 10.8% from last year’s second quarter. Total deposits grew 12.5% to $13.5 billion.
“We had very nice organic loan and core deposit growth during the quarter and our loan pipeline is still very strong with over $400 million approved and ready to close,” Simmons Chairman and Chief Executive Officer George Makris Jr. said in a news release. “We maintained a stable net interest margin and we
improved our overall asset quality. We are very proud of our expense management demonstrated this quarter.”
Makris also noted the bank closed on its acquisition of Reliance Bank in St. Louis during the quarter. It also completed the move of its corporate offices to the River Market area of downtown Little Rock, and was named to the Arkansas Business list of best places to work in Arkansas for the second year in a row.
Earlier this month, Simmons announced it hired a new chief digital officer. Alejandro Carriles joined Simmons from BBVA Compass, where he led mobile and online banking channels as well as digital account origination for all consumer and small business products. He also led the development of digital sales platforms for deposit accounts, personal loans, credit cards and insurance products.
Garland Binns, a Little Rock banking attorney, said Simmons continues its steady performance “with an overall good second quarter.” Besides the gain in net income, Binns noted Simmons’ 15.5% growth in total loans over the previous year and a 2.82% improvement in its efficiency ratio.
A bank’s efficiency ratio measures its overhead as a percentage of its revenue, according to Investopedia.com. A lower efficiency ratio means a bank is operating better, and 50% or less is considered optimal. Simmons reported an efficiency ratio of 49.88% for the second quarter.
Simmons operates more than 200 branches throughout Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.