Acquisition-heavy Simmons Bank posts Q4, yearly increase

In a year full of acquisitions, Pine Bluff, Arkansas-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) reported 2016 net income of $96.8 million, a 30.6 percent increase compared with the prior year.

The operator of six Simmons Bank branches in Springfield ended the year with fourth-quarter earnings available to common shareholders of $27 million, a 13.4 percent jump. Diluted share earnings rose by 7 cents to 85 cents per share, according to a news release.

Simmons Chairman and CEO George Makris Jr. cited three acquisition deals for growth in 2016: Stillwater, Oklahoma-based Southwest Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: OKSB); Jackson, Tennessee-based Hardeman County Investment Co. Inc.; and Athens, Tenn.-based Citizens National Bancorp Inc.

“Our associates are beginning to leverage our size and integrate more of our services in markets previously unserved,” Makris said in the release. “We look forward to significant growth from these mergers.”

Fourth-quarter financial notes:
    •    Provision for loan losses grew by $1.1 million to $4.3 million. Officials said that increase was necessary given the company’s loans grew 14.5 percent to $5.6 billion at the end of the year.
    •    Net interest income rose 0.8 percent to $74.3 million.
    •    Noninterest expense dropped by $1.1 million to $66.7 million.

Simmons Bank held assets of $8.4 billion and deposits of $6.7 billion as of Dec. 31, according to the release.

SFNC shares were trading at $61.60 as of 9:44 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $38.30 to $67.

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