Commerce records $66M in 3Q earnings

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: CBSH) posted a third-quarter net income of $66 million, a 1 percent increase compared to profits of $65.4 million in the same quarter of 2011.

The company, which operates seven Commerce Bank branches in Springfield, increased its annual earnings per diluted share by 3 cents to 75 cents, according to a news release.

"Although record-low interest rates continued to pressure our net interest income, we were pleased to report solid quarterly earnings that benefited from loan growth, low credit losses and good expense management," Commerce Chairman and CEO David Kemper said in the release.

In the second quarter, Commerce had posted record quarterly earnings of $74.3 million.

Third-quarter financial notes:

• The company's net interest income was $153.8 million for the three months ending Sept. 30, a 3 percent decrease compared to $158.6 million in third-quarter 2011.
• Total loans were $9.6 billion as of Sept. 30, while the company's provision for loan losses decreased 51 percent to $5.6 million during the quarter.
• Commerce repurchased roughly 98,000 shares of its stock at an average price of $39.66 per share.

Commerce fell from the top spot in the Springfield metropolitan area in terms of deposit market share, landing at No. 2. As of June 30, Commerce held $1.1 billion in deposits, or 13.93 percent of the five-county market. Great Southern reclaimed the No. 1 spot with $1.16 billion in deposits, or 14.59 percent of the market share, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. data released Oct. 2.

As of Sept. 30, Commerce's companywide deposits were $16.8 billion and assets were $20.9 billion. The company operates roughly 360 branches in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado, and also has mortgage banking, credit-related insurance and private equity subsidiaries, according to the release.

The company's shares were trading at $37.61 as of 8:44 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $34.58 to $42.74.