Great Southern improves 1Q bottom line

Springfield-based Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) boosted first-quarter earnings 5 percent to $8.8 million, up from $8.4 million in the same period of 2013.

The holding company of Great Southern Bank posted 63-cent earnings per diluted share for the three months ended March 31, a 3-cent uptick from the first quarter last year, according to a news release.

“The company experienced continued loan growth and improved credit quality in the first quarter," Great Southern President and CEO Joe Turner said in the release. "Total loans, excluding our covered loans and mortgage loans held for sale, increased $83.7 million from the end of 2013, with loan production throughout our franchise.

"Credit quality continues to improve, with nonperforming assets decreasing by $6.4 million, or 10.3 percent, and potential problem loans reducing by $4.5 million, or 16.7 percent from the end of last year."

First-quarter financial notes:

• Great Southern closed on the purchase of two branches from Boulevard Bank in Neosho, where the company plans to fold its existing branch in the city into one of the Boulevard locations. The deal, which also included assets from Boulevard Bank's St. Louis office, included $92 million in deposits and $11 million in loans.
• The company entered the Oklahoma and Texas markets with new loan production offices in Tulsa and Dallas.
• Officials announced Great Southern will consider repurchasing as many as 396,562 of its shares.

As of March 31, Great Southern's assets were $3.8 billion, deposits were $3 billion and liabilities were $3.4 billion The company operates 98 branches, according to the release.

GSBC shares were trading at $28.86 as of 9:33 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $22.91 to $31.23.