BancorpSouth earnings drop 9%

Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Inc. (NYSE: BXS) posted a 9 percent earnings drop in the first quarter, after realizing profits of $20.8 million compared to $22.9 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The holding company with six BancorpSouth branches in Springfield reported diluted earnings per share of 22 cents for the quarter that ended March 31, a 3-cent downtick, according to a news release.

Officials said company earnings were adversely affected by a $6.8 million increase in the company's litigation reserve related to various legal matters. Questions regarding first-quarter financials were referred to BancorpSouth Director of Investor Relations Will Fisackerly, who did not return a call for comment on the litigation by deadline.

First-quarter financial notes:

• Net interest revenue dropped 7.1 percent to $98.1 million from $105.6 million in the same quarter of 2012.
• Loans and leases, net of unearned income, decreased 1.8 percent to $8.6 billion as of March 31, compared to $8.7 billion a year ago. Leading the drop was a $130 million decrease in the construction, acquisition and development loan portfolio.
• Provision for credit losses decreased 60 percent to $4 million from $10 million.

As of March 31, BancorpSouth's assets were $13.4 billion and its deposits were $11.1 billion. The company operates 292 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in eight states including Missouri, and an insurance location in Illinois, according to the release.

BXS shares were trading at $16.19 as of 10:23 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $12.48 to $16.52.[[In-content Ad]]