From the Vault

Bank of America Corp. profits surged 75 percent in the first quarter, mostly due to the company’s 2004 acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corp.

The Charlotte-based bank with 10 Springfield area branches made $4.7 billion, or $1.14 per share, up from $2.68 billion, or 91 cents per share, in the first

quarter last year.

Bank of America stock (NYSE: BAC) closed April 20 at $44.23 per share.

Commerce Bank

Kansas City-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. reported a 3 percent gain in first-quarter earnings per share compared with first-quarter 2004. Shares earned 73 cents each, up from 71 cents per share a year ago. However, the first-quarter results are down 2 cents from fourth-quarter 2004.

Net income slid 3 percent to $49.8 million in the first quarter. It is down almost 6 percent from the final quarter last year.

The bank, which has 25 branches in the Springfield area, had total assets of $14.1 billion as of March 31, down from $14.5 billion in March 2004 and $14.3 billion in December. Total loans for the end of first-quarter 2005 were $8.4 billion and total deposits were $10.7 billion.

Commerce stock (Nasdaq: CSBH) closed April 20 at $46.81 per share.

Great Southern Bank

Springfield-based Great Southern Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Great Southern Bank, posted first-quarter earnings of 46 cents per share, up 1 cent from the same period last year to $6.48 million.

Net income was up 5 percent over first-quarter 2004, while net interest income was up 6 percent to $15.1 million. However, profits are down 5 percent from fourth-quarter 2004 levels.

The bank, with 19 local branches, ended the first quarter with total deposits of $1.38 billion and total assets of $1.91 billion.

Great Southern Bancorp stock (Nasdaq: GSBC) closed April 20 at $29.76 per share.

Guaranty Bank

First-quarter profits rose 25 percent at Springfield-based Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Guaranty Bank.

The company reported $1.22 million in net income, up from $969,000 in first-quarter 2004. Additionally, net interest income was up 24 percent to $3.22 million from $2.6 million in first-quarter 2004.

Earnings per share rose 22 percent to 43 cents compared to 35 cents per share a year ago.

Compared with fourth-quarter 2004, assets increased 2 percent or $9 million, while loans grew 4 percent or $17 million and deposits were up 2 percent or $6 million. Guaranty Bank has seven local branches.

Guaranty Federal Bancshares stock (Nasdaq: GFED) closed April 20 at $22.75 per share.

Regions Bank

Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Finan-cial Corp. reported first-quarter earnings of 51 cents per share, up from 50 cents per share in fourth-quarter 2004 but down from first-quarter 2004’s 60 cents per share.

Net income reached $241 million, compared to $169 million a year ago, partially to due to the company’s July 1 acquisition of Union Planters Corp. Regions has nine branches in the Springfield area.

Company assets as of March 31 were $84.28 billion, while deposits totaled $59.59 billion.

Regions stock (NYSE: RF) closed April 20 at $31.96 per share.

U.S. Bank

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp’s first-quarter profits rose 6.3 percent to a record $1.07 billion. Net interest income was $1.75 billion, down 1.6 percent from the $1.78 billion reported March 31, 2004.

First-quarter earnings were 57 cents per share, up from 56 cents per share in the fourth quarter 2004 and 52 cents in first-quarter last year.

As of March 31, loans were $127.7 billion, up 7.4 percent from the same time last year. Deposits totaled $119.4 billion, up 2.9 percent, and assets totaled $198.5 billion, up 3.3 percent. There are 12 U.S. Bank branches in the Springfield area.

U.S. Bancorp stock (NYSE: USB) closed April 20 at $27.16 per share.

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