Commerce Bank improves earnings 6%

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH) posted third-quarter net income available to common shareholders of $66.3 million, a 6.3 percent increase compared with $62.4 million earnings a year earlier.

The operator of seven Commerce Bank branches in Springfield improved diluted share earnings to 68 cents from 63 cents in third-quarter 2015, according to a news release.

“This quarter, top-line revenue grew 6 percent compared with the same period last year, with this growth coming from both net interest income and fees,” Commerce Chairman and CEO David Kemper said in the release. “The increase in fees resulted mainly from higher commercial card, deposit and trust fee income, while loan and sweep fees also showed good growth. The increase in net interest income continues to be driven by overall growth in average loans and higher overall earning assets.”

Third-quarter financial notes:
    •    Revenue moved up 6.3 percent to $290.6 million, and net interest income grew 5.7 percent to $171.2 million.
    •    Bank card transaction fees jumped 5.3 percent to $47 million.
    •    Salaries and employee benefits rose 6 percent to $107 million.

Last month, Commerce again ranked No. 1 in deposits held in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. released its latest data. As of June 30, Commerce held $1.22 billion in deposits, representing 13.53 percent of the Springfield MSA market share.

As of Sept. 30, Commerce had $24.7 billion in assets, $20.2 billion in deposits and $13.2 billion in loans. The company operates 350 branches in five states, according to the release.

CBSH shares were trading at $48.30 as of 9 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $37.44 to $51.30.