Great Southern produces 19% earnings boost

Springfield-based Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) reported $8.4 million profits in the third quarter, an 18.8 percent increase from $7.1 million in the same quarter of 2012.

The holding company of Great Southern Bank posted earnings per diluted share of 61 cents for the three months ended Sept. 30, up 11 cents from third-quarter 2012, according to a news release.

Great Southern's third-quarter financial notes:

• Nonperforming assets and problems loans, excluding those covered by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. loss-sharing agreements, totaled $97.8 million at the end of the quarter, a $24.2 million decrease from Dec. 31, 2012.
• Net interest income decreased 11.1 percent to $38.5 million from $43.3 million in third-quarter 2012.
• Provision for loan losses dropped 68.1 percent to $2.7 million from $8.4 million a year ago.

Great Southern fell to No. 2 in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area deposit market share, dropping below top-ranked Commerce Bank, according to FDIC data released Sept. 30. Great Southern held $995 million in area deposits, or 12.4 percent of the five-county market, as of June 30.

As of Sept. 30, Great Southern's assets totaled $3.6 billion and deposits were $2.9 billion. The company operates 108 branches in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Nebraska, according to the release.

GSBC shares were trading at $29.07 as of 10:56 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $22.60 to $31.