BancorpSouth boosts bottom line 16%

Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Inc. (NYSE: BXS) produced third-quarter net income of $28.8 million, a 15.8 percent increase compared to the same quarter of 2013.

The holding company of six BancorpSouth branches in Springfield posted diluted earnings per share of 30 cents, a 4-cent increase from third-quarter 2013, according to a news release.

“Our lending team continues to win new business, which resulted in net quarterly loan growth of over 8 percent on an annualized basis," BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO Dan Rollins said in the release. "We are also pleased with our ability to continue to maintain our net interest margin despite continued pressure on loan yields. Additionally, we benefitted from continued growth in several of our noninterest revenue line items, including insurance commission revenue."

Third-quarter financial notes:

• BancorpSouth posted net operating income of $30.8 million, or 32 cents per share, an increase from $27.7 million, or 29 cents per share, a year earlier.
• The company generated net loan growth of $198.98 million, or 8.5 percent over last year, representing the sixth-consecutive quarter of net loan growth.
• Net interest margin increased to 3.62 percent from 3.59 percent in the second quarter.
• Systemwide deposits were roughly flat at $10.7 billion compared to third-quarter 2013.

In the Springfield metropolitan statistical area, BancorpSouth retained its No. 8 rank in deposit market share. As of June 30, the company held $284.6 million, or 3.4 percent of local deposits, according to recently released Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data.

As of Sept. 30, BancorpSouth reported $13.1 billion in assets from roughly 300 commercial banking, mortgage and insurance operations in nine states, according to the release.

BXS shares were trading at $21.09 as of 11:15 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $19.22 to $26.24.[[In-content Ad]]