First Bancshares starts fiscal year with profit gain

Mountain Grove-based First Bancshares Inc. (OTCQB: FBSI) began its fiscal year with a first-quarter net income of $49,000.

The latest quarter, which ended Sept. 30, represented a 117 percent profit gain based on a $289,000 net loss in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, according to a news release.

First Bancshares, which operates a Springfield branch of First Home Savings Bank at 2655 S. Campbell Ave., posted 3-cent earnings per diluted share during the first quarter of fiscal 2013, compared to a loss per share of 19 cents in the quarter that ended Sept. 30, 2011.

First Bancshares officials attributed first-quarter net income to decreases in the company's provision for loan losses and noninterest expense, as well as an increase in noninterest income. During the quarter, there was no provision for loan losses, compared to a $55,000 provision in the same quarter last fiscal year; noninterest income increased 1.6 percent to $320,000; and noninterest expense decreased 25 percent to $1.5 million, according to the release.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, when First Bancshares reported earnings of $100,000, the company announced plans to voluntarily pull its common stock from Nasdaq, as well as its intention to deregister its common stock via the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

First Bancshares operates nine branches and has continued to trade its stock on the over-the-counter bulletin board, with plans to continue posting quarterly and annual financial results. As of Sept. 30, the company's assets were $187.5 million, net loans were $91 million and deposits were $161.6 million, according to the release.

The company's pink sheet stock closed Oct. 22 at $5.50, compared to a 52-week range of $4.65 to $7.46.