From the Vault

Springfield-based Great Southern Bancorp Inc. announced its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings. Among the figures of note:

• 2004 fourth-quarter net income was $6.8 million, 21.3 percent more than the $5.6 million reported in fourth-quarter 2003. Annual net income was up 16.4 percent in 2004: $26.9 million versus $23.1 million in 2003.

• Fourth-quarter earnings per diluted share rose 19.5 percent to 49 cents, compared with 41 cents a share in fourth-quarter 2003. Annual earnings were $1.92 a share, up 15.7 percent over 2003.

In a news release, President and CEO Joe Turner cited strong regional loan demand in commercial real estate and construction lending, and commission and service charges as income drivers.

Great Southern Bancorp stock (Nasdaq: GSBC) closed Jan. 19 at $36.11 a share.

Guaranty Bank

Springfield-based Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc. Jan. 13 reported fourth-quarter earnings of 41 cents per share, up 173 percent from 15 cents per share in fourth-quarter 2003. Yearly net income was $4.3 million, or $1.53 per share, up 28.6 percent from the $3.3 million or $1.19 a share in 2003.

Guaranty also reported total assets $440.6 million as of Dec. 31 – a 13.9 percent increase over the $386.8 million assets in 2003.

Guaranty Federal Bancshares stock (Nasdaq: GFED) closed Jan. 19 at $23.49 a share.

Commerce Bank

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. announced Jan. 13 that earnings per share for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, were 75 cents a share, compared to 74 cents a share for the same period in 2003. Annualized, earnings per share rose 10 percent to $3.10 a share, a record for the bank.

Commerce Chairman and CEO David W. Kemper said the company reached record results “despite a year when both the balance sheet and net interest income did not grow, chiefly due to sluggish loan demand and constraints from a rising interest rate environment.”

Other key statistics:

• Net interest income was $124.2 million for the quarter, down 2.6 percent from the same time in 2003, when net interest income was $127.5 million. For 2004, net interest income was $497.3 million, down from the $502.4 million in 2003.

• Net income for the fourth quarter was $52.7 million, down from $53.8 million during the same time in 2003. Yearly net income was up 6.7 percent to $220.3 million.

Commerce Bancshares stock (Nasdaq: CBSH) closed Jan. 19 at $47.79 a share.

Bank of America

According to a Jan. 18 announcement, fourth-quarter net income for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. rose 41 percent from the same period in 2003 to $3.85 billion, or 94 cents a share. Bank of America earned $2.73 billion or 92 cents a share in 2003. Some of that increase is attributed to the institution’s April 2004 acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp.

The company also attributes the increase to improved performance in all major business lines and growth in consumer accounts, deposits and card balances, and credit and debit card purchase transaction volumes.

Other key figures:

• Year-end deposits were up 49.4 percent to $618 billion compared with the $414 billion in deposits in 2003.

Bank of America stock (NYSE: BAC) closed Jan. 19 at $44.97 a share.

U.S. Bank

On Jan. 18, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.06 billion, up 8.1 percent from fourth-quarter 2003. That income increase led to earnings per share of 56 cents, up from 50 cents a share.

Other figures of note:

• Return on average assets and return on average equity were 2.16 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively, for fourth-quarter 2004, compared with 2.05 percent and 19.4 percent, respectively, for the same period in 2003.

U.S. Bancorp stock (NYSE: USB) closed Jan. 19 at $30.56 a share.

Regions

Regions Financial Corp. also announced its fourth-quarter financial figures.

Among the noteworthy numbers:

• Fourth-quarter 2004 net income was $236.5 million, or 50 cents per diluted share. That’s a 44 percent increase over the $163.8 million total for the fourth quarter of 2003.

• Diluted per share figures dropped 15 percent, from 59 cents per share in the last quarter of 2003 to 50 cents per share in the same time period of 2004.

“The fourth quarter capped a year of positive change for Regions and strengthened our foundation for ongoing profit improvement,” said Regions Chairman and CEO Carl E. Jones Jr. “Still, there’s more work to be done.”

Regions Financial stock (NYSE: RF) closed Jan. 19 at $33.25 a share.