Commerce Bank reports record earnings for 2001

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Commerce Bancshares Inc. announced Jan. 16 record earnings of $2.73 per share in 2001, up 4 percent from $2.63 per share in 2000. |ret||ret||tab|

Commerce's total earnings last year amounted to $182 million, which generated a return on realized equity of 15.3 percent and a return on assets of 1.55 percent, according to a Commerce press release.|ret||ret||tab|

Fourth-quarter earnings also were up, with total earnings of $46.8 million compared to $46.2 million in fourth-quarter 2000. |ret||ret||tab|

Earnings per share reached 71 cents, a 3 percent increase from the same period a year earlier.|ret||ret||tab|

Also during the fourth quarter, Com-merce Bancshares declared and paid its eighth consecutive 5 percent annual stock dividend.|ret||ret||tab|

"In the midst of a difficult economic environment, we are pleased to report record earnings," said Commerce Chair-man and Chief Executive Officer David W. Kemper. |ret||ret||tab|

"The increase in earnings was mainly the result of solid growth in noninterest income coupled with good expense control," he added.|ret||ret||tab|

He said noninterest income was up 10 percent over last year and now comprises 37 percent of total revenue.|ret||ret||tab|

Kemper added that because of a contracting economic environment in the banking industry's markets, average loan balances declined slightly from both the previous quarter and previous year.|ret||ret||tab|

"However, average deposits have continued to grow at an annualized rate of 7 percent," he said. "We will continue to monitor the credit quality of our customers and look for opportunities as economic conditions improve to further in-vest in our franchise." |ret||ret||tab|

As of Dec. 31, 2001, Commerce Bank's total assets were $12.9 billion, total loans were $7.6 billion and total de-posits were $10 billion. |ret||ret||tab|

The company operates in more than 340 locations in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas, and has subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.[[In-content Ad]]