Great Southern’s profits fall 12%

Springfield-based Great Southern Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: GSBC) posted a 12.4% drop in third quarter net income.

The Great Southern Bank parent company’s profits were $19.7 million for the three-month period ended Sept. 30, compared with $22.5 million a year earlier. Diluted share earnings were $1.38, down from $1.57 per share in third quarter 2018, according to a news release.

Officials cited a one-time, pretax gain of $7.4 million in third quarter 2018, when the company sold branches in Nebraska.

Third quarter 2019 financial notes for Great Southern Bank:
• Net interest income was up nearly 7% to $46 million.
• Provision for loan losses increased 50% to roughly $2 million.
• Salaries and employee benefits grew 4% to $15.8 million.

Great Southern’s assets were $5 billion and deposits were $3.9 billion as of Sept. 30. The company operates 97 branches in six states, according to the release.

The company ranked as the No. 1 deposit holder in the Springfield metropolitan statistical area in data released last month by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. As of June 30, its local deposits were $1.7 billion, representing about 16% of the five-county market share.

GSBC shares were trading at $59.82 as of 9:52 a.m., near a 52-week high of $60.94. The 52-week low is $43.30.