Commerce Bank posts earnings gain on higher revenue

With increased third-quarter revenue, Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH) posted a bottom-line gain.

The operator of seven Commerce Bank branches in Springfield boosted revenue 5 percent to $304.8 million from $290.6 million a year earlier. Net income available to common shareholders rose 9 percent to $72.3 million, or 71 cents per diluted share, from $66.3 million, or 65 cents per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2016, according to a news release.

“Our earnings remained strong this quarter driven by solid expense control and continued low credit losses,” Commerce Chairman and CEO David Kemper said in the release.

Third-quarter financial notes:
    •    Salaries and employee benefits moved up 4 percent to $111.4 million compared with the same period last year.
    •    Provision for loan losses jumped 47 percent to $10.7 million.
    •    Net interest income grew 6.6 percent to $182.6 million.

In the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s latest deposit market share report, Commerce Bank fell to No. 2 in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area. The company had $1.2 billion in deposits, or 12.1 percent of the market, as of June 30, according to the recently released data. Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) was No. 1 with $1.3 billion in deposits, or 13.4 percent of the market share.

As of Sept. 30, Commerce held assets of $25 billion, deposits of $20.4 billion and loans of $13.8 billion. The company operates 330 branches in Missouri and four other states, according to the release.

Despite revenue and net income increases, Commerce’s shares dipped this morning by as much as 3 percent on its latest earnings report. CBSH shares were trading at $56.93 as of 9:04 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $45.37 to $60.61.