Commerce posts 1Q earnings of 53 cents per share

Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH), the parent company of Commerce Bank, announced first-quarter earnings Thursday of 53 cents per share.

The earnings are a 39.5 percent increase from the 38 cents per share posted in the first quarter of 2009.

Net income for the first quarter of this year totaled $44.2 million, up from $30.8 million the year before, while net interest income totaled $162.7 million for the quarter, up from $150 million in first-quarter 2009.

Asset quality also improved, as provisions for loan losses decreased to $34.3 million from $43.2 million the year before, and return on average assets increased to 1 percent from 0.73 percent a year earlier.

"The growth in net income for the first quarter of 2010 over the same period last year was mainly the result of continued growth in our core revenues coupled with a decline in our provision for loan losses and solid expense control," Chairman and CEO David Kemper said in the earnings release.

Total assets as of March 31 were $18 billion, with total loans of $10.4 billion and deposits of $14 billion.

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares operates 373 bank and ATM locations in five states. Shares of company stock closed Wednesday at $41.74, near their 52-week high of $42.35. Shares were trading up at $41.85 as of 10:20 a.m.