From the Vault: Guaranty earnings climb, shares hit 52-week high

The Springfield-based holding company for Guaranty Bank had basic earnings of 63 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31, up 13 percent from 56 cents per share a year ago. The earnings pushed shares to a 52-week high of $29.95 on April 25.

Compared to the previous year, net income increased 12 percent to $1.75 million, and net interest income increased 6 percent from a year earlier to $4.37 million.

Return on average assets for the quarter was 1.37 percent, compared to 1.31 percent in first-quarter 2006.

As of March 31, Guaranty had repurchased 120,132 of the 250,000 common shares it announced it would buy back last July. Shares were bought at an average cost of $28.81.

Guaranty Bank has eight branches in Greene and Christian counties and loan production offices in Howell, Wright and Webster counties.

Company shares (Nasdaq: GFED) closed April 25 at $29.95, breaking the 52-week high of $29.90.

Regions Financial

Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial Corp. on April 17 reported a first-quarter profit increase of 13 percent, despite a loss through the sale of its wholesale mortgage originator business.

Diluted earnings per share were 65 cents, unchanged from a year before. That figure includes 4 cents per share in charges related to Regions’ November merger with Birmingham-based AmSouth.

Quarterly income from continuing operations was $474.1 million, including $30.4 million in after-tax, merger-related expenses.

Net income was $333 million, a 13 percent increase from the previous year.

On March 30, Regions sold its nonconforming wholesale mortgage originator, EquiFirst Holdings Corp., to Barclays Bank PLC.

EquiFirst had a first-quarter after-tax net loss of $141.1 million, according to a Regions news release.

Also during the quarter, the company repurchased 10 million of its common shares at an average cost of $36.09 per share. Under current authorizations, 53.9 million shares may be bought back.

Company shares (NYSE: RF) closed April 25 at $35.49, compared to a 52-week range of $32.37 to $39.15.

Great Southern Bancorp

Springfield-based Great Southern Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Great Southern Bank, April 19 reported first-quarter earnings of 53 cents per diluted share, up 1 cent from a year ago.

Earnings were $7.34 million, a 3 percent increase from $7.2 million, or 52 cents per share, in first-quarter 2006. Those figures include the effects of the company’s accounting for interest-rate swaps. Excluding effects of the change, earnings were 53 cents per diluted share in 2007 and 54 cents in 2006.

Great Southern officials expect the changes from the interest-rate swap to flow back into income in future quarters.

Net interest income for the quarter was $17.2 million, including effects of the change, up 3 percent from a year earlier. Loans increased $41 million from the end of 2006 due to a strong demand for commercial lending.

Highlights from the first quarter include an acquisition by the bank’s travel subsidiary, Great Southern Travel, of St. Louis-based The Travel Co.

The bank also hired a corporate services representative in St. Louis to cover that market.

During the second quarter, the company plans to open a full-service bank at 2945 W. Republic Road, its 18th in Springfield and its 38th overall.

Company shares (Nasdaq: GSBC) closed April 25 at $27.95, compared to a 52-week range of $25.05 to $32.14.

Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares Inc. earnings fell 2.7 percent in the first quarter, the Kansas City-based holding company for Commerce Bank announced April 12.

Commerce reported net income of $51.5 million, down from $52.9 million in first-quarter 2006, due to “to slower growth in noninterest income and normalized credit losses,” Commerce CEO and Chairman David W. Kemper said in a news release. “However, we were pleased with 6 percent year-over-year growth in net interest income.”

Earnings per share were 73 cents, dipping 1.4 percent from 74 cents a share a year ago.

The company’s return on average assets for the quarter was 1.4 percent, and the return on average equity was 14.4 percent.

During the quarter, the bank completed its acquisition of South Tulsa Financial Corp., a single-bank holding company in Tulsa, Okla.

The bank also purchased about 950,000 shares of its common stock through its treasury stock buyback plan.

The company April 18 also announced a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share. The dividend on common stock is payable June 27 to stockholders of record June 7.

Shares (Nasdaq: CBSH) closed April 25 at $47.67, compared to a 52-week range of $43.43 to $50.77.

UMB Financial

Kansas City-based UMB Financial Corp., the parent company of UMB Bank, on April 24 announced earnings of $17.3 million for the first quarter of 2007, up 30.8 percent from first-quarter 2006. A day later, shares set a new 52-week high of $39.50.

Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were 41 cents, up from 31 cents during the same period the year before.

The increase in revenue was due in part to a 9 percent, or $4.7 million, increase in net interest income, and a 12.7 percent, or $7.6 million, increase in noninterest income.

“Our net interest growth for the quarter is significantly higher than the growth projected for the industry,” said Mariner Kemper, chairman and CEO of UMB Financial Corp., in a news release. “End-of-period loans grew 13.8 percent over the first quarter of 2006, which is better than the 9 percent growth reported by the Federal Reserve for the industry during the quarter.”

The corporation had $8 billion in assets as of March 31, including $5.6 billion in total deposits, and $3.8 billion in net loans. UMB Financial Corp.’s banking subsidiaries own and operate 138 banking centers in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Colorado and Arizona.

Shares (Nasdaq: UMBF) closed April 25 at $39.50, breaking the previous 52-week high of $39.07.

U.S. Bancorp

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp on April 17 reported first-quarter earnings of 63 cents per share, unchanged from a year ago but down from 66 cents per share in the previous quarter.

Net income for the company was $1.13 billion for the quarter, down 2 percent from $1.15 billion in first-quarter 2006.

The return on average assets was 2.09 percent, and return on average common equity was 22.4 percent, both down slightly from a year before.

U.S. Bancorp’s fee-based businesses continued to show growth, but its net interest margin declined 3.51 percent, reflecting a decline of 29 basis points from first-quarter 2006 and a decline of five basis points from the previous quarter.

“On a linked quarter basis, the five basis point reduction was slightly more than we had expected for a number of reasons, one of which was an accelerated stock repurchase agreement that the company initiated in February,” said CEO and President Richard K. Davis, in a news release.

U.S. Bancorp shares (NYSE: USB) closed April 25 at $34.57, compared to a 52-week range of $30.44 to $36.85.

Bank of America

Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America Corp. on April 19 reported a 5 percent increase in first-quarter net income to $5.26 billion, from $4.99 billion a year before.

Diluted earnings per share were $1.16, up 8 percent from $1.07 in first-quarter 2006. Return on average shareholders’ equity was 16.16 percent.

Noninterest income increased 10 percent to $9.83 billion from $8.9 billion a year ago.

First-quarter results were driven by increases in service-fee income, investment-banking income, mortgage-banking income and equity investment gains, according to a company news release.

Growth was offset, however, by the impact of a flat yield curve and normalizing credit costs, according to the release.

Total sales of retail products rose 6 percent to nearly 12 million units, and average loans to small businesses with less than $2.5 million in annual sales increased 30 percent to $14.01 billion.

Company shares (NYSE: BAC) closed April 25 at $51.23, compared to a 52-week range of $45.86 to $55.08.

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