First Bancshares' quarterly earnings skyrocket

Mountain Grove-based First Bancshares Inc. (OTCQB: FBSI) posted quarterly net income of $2.5 million, representing a 1,677 percent jump from $143,000 in the same quarter last year.

For the three months ended June 30, the holding company, which operates a Springfield branch of First Home Bank at 2655 S. Campbell Ave., reported earnings per share of $1.64, up from 9 cents in the same three-month period a year earlier, according to a news release.

Company officials pointed to a $2.4 million income tax benefit as the largest contributing factor.

“Our improved financial results reflect a return to better operating fundamentals that provides us greater opportunities as we focus on the future,” First Bancshares President and CEO R. Bradley Weaver said in the release.

Quarterly financial results:
    •    The company has posted 10 consecutive quarters of net income growth.
    •    There was no provision for loans losses for the period.
    •    Net loans receivable were $123.6 million at the end of the quarter.

As of June 30, First Bancshares held assets of $203.2 million and deposits of $172.1 million. It operates seven branches in Missouri, according to the release.