Commerce Bank’s earnings grow 13%

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH) improved second-quarter net income available to common shareholders by 13 percent.

The holding company that operates seven Commerce Bank branches in Springfield reported earnings of $76.7 million, or 75 cents per diluted share, an increase from $67.6 million, or 66 cents per diluted share, a year earlier, according to a news release.

“We continued to see strong performance this quarter as top line revenue grew $10.6 million compared with the previous quarter while expenses declined and credit costs remained low,” Commerce Bank Chairman and CEO David Kemper said in the release.

Second-quarter financial notes:

•Revenue climbed 6 percent to $305.9 million.

•Provision for loan losses was up to $10.8 million from $9.2 million a year ago.

•Salaries and employee benefits increased 3.8 percent to $108.8 million.

As of June 30, Commerce held assets of $25.1 billion and deposits of $20.8 billion. The company operates 330 branches in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado, according to the release.

CBSH shares were trading at $57.15 as of 8:47 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $44.27 to $60.61.