Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Inc. (NYSE: BXS) grew its earnings 19.3 percent to $34.3 million in the third quarter, compared to $28.8 million a year earlier.
The operator of six BancorpSouth branches in Springfield recorded diluted share earnings of 36 cents for the quarter ended Sept. 30, a 6-cent increase, according to a news release.
“We are pleased to report net loan growth of $212 million, or 8.4 percent annualized,” BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO Dan Rollins said in the release. “This growth, combined with stable loan yields, resulted in improvement to our net interest margin, as well as growth in net interest income.”
Third-quarter financial notes:
• The company repurchased roughly 2.9 million of its shares at an average price of $23.58, for an investment of about $68.4 million.
• Net interest revenue climbed 5.2 percent to $111.1 million.
• Earnings were affected by a negative provision for credit losses of $3 million, compared to no recorded provision in the same quarter last year.
As of Sept. 30, BancorpSouth held assets of $13.8 billion and deposits of $11.1 billion. The company operates 286 commercial banking, mortgage and insurance locations in Missouri and eight other states, according to the release.
In the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s
recently released list of the Springfield metropolitan statistical area’s deposit market share leaders, BancorpSouth ranked No. 10 with $270.4 million in deposits, or 3.1 percent of the market share.
BXS shares were trading at $23.84 as of 11:50 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $19.64 to $26.68.
