First Bancshares posts 124% 3Q gain

Mountain Grove-based First Bancshares Inc. (OTCQB: FBSI) recorded earnings of $141,000 during its third quarter, a 124 percent improvement compared to a net loss of $584,000 in the same quarter of its prior fiscal year.

The holding company, which operates a Springfield branch of First Home Savings Bank at 2655 S. Campbell Ave., posted earnings per diluted share of 9 cents during the quarter that ended March 31, compared to a 38-cent loss for the same quarter a year before, according to a news release.

Officials attributed the quarter-to-quarter gain to:

• an $80,000 increase in noninterest income to $238,000 from $158,000 in third-quarter 2012;
• a $26,000 bump in the gain on the sale of investments;
• a $506,000 decrease in noninterest expense, which declined by 27.7 percent to $1.3 million from $1.8 million; and
• a $209,000 decline in the provision for loan losses, as that figure registered at zero during the latest quarter.

The company acknowledged the gains were partially offset by a $96,000 decrease in net interest income, which dropped to $1.2 million from $1.3 million, the release said.

First Bancshares, which operates nine branches, had assets of $196.6 million and deposits of $165.6 million as of Dec. 31.

The company's pink sheet stock closed April 17 at $7.50, compared to a 52-week range of $4.65 to $10.