Great Southern earnings increase in first quarter

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 $16.6 million reported 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, and a marketing strategy launched late last year continued with direct mail pieces sent to growth markets to add deposits.

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

Company shares (Nasdaq: GSBC) closed Wednesday at $28.98 and were trading down at $28.38 as of 10:30 this morning. The 52-week range is $25.05 to $32.14.