BancorpSouth's year-end profits up 63.8%

Despite a drop in fourth-quarter earnings, Tupelo, Miss.-based BancorpSouth Inc. (NYSE: BXS) recorded year-end net income of $37.6 million, an increase of 63.8 percent compared to 2010. The company ended its previous fiscal year with $22.9 million in profits.

BancorpSouth's net income in the fourth quarter was down 16 percent to $13.3 million, compared to profits of $15.8 million in the same quarter of 2010.

The holding company for six BancorpSouth branches in Springfield had earnings per diluted share of 45 cents during 2011, up 18 cents from the prior year, according to a Jan. 17 news release.

The company's year-end net interest revenue fell 14 percent to $434.9 million and noninterest expense was up 9.6 percent to $533.6 million, but provision for credit losses was down 36.2 percent to $130.1 million and noninterest revenue was up 25.4 percent to $270.8 million.

"Despite this difficult environment, we continue to be pleased with the performance of our core operations," BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO Aubrey Patterson said in the release. "We have continued to work to deepen relationships with existing clients and to develop new relationships through our deposit offerings, mortgage lending, insurance and other products and services."

As of Dec. 31, the company's assets were roughly $13 billion and deposits were $11 billion.

BancorpSouth operates roughly 290 commercial banking, mortgage, insurance, trust and broker/dealer locations in Missouri and eight other states.

The company also announced on Jan. 17 it had launched an underwritten public offering of its common stock to the tune of $100 million. Net proceeds of the offering would be used for general purposes such as maintaining certain capital levels and liquidity, funding growth organically or by acquisition, and investing in its subsidiaries, according to a separate news release.

As of 9:15 a.m., shares of BancorpSouth were trading at $11.38, compared to a 52-week range of $8.23 to $16.25.[[In-content Ad]]