Simmons Bank posts higher Q4 profits

Pine Bluff, Arkansas-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) ended 2024 with higher fourth-quarter net income.

The operator of four Simmons Bank branches in Springfield reported a roughly 102% increase in profits to $48.3 million, compared with $23.9 million in fourth-quarter 2023, according to a news release. Diluted share earnings were 38 cents, an increase from 19 cents.

"Simmons' fourth-quarter results were encouraging as we head into 2025. Profitability trends improved and should be a good foundation from which to build," Simmons Chair and CEO George Makris Jr. said in the release. "While we are cautiously optimistic as we enter the new year, we are also watching several factors that could impact us in 2025: a new administration and how its policies affect domestic growth; inflation and employment levels; the trajectory of short-term interest rates; regulatory changes and their effect on our operating costs and growth; insurance availability and costs for both commercial enterprises and consumers; and population migration's effects on housing trends geographically."

Data in Simmons Bank's latest financial report points to net income in 2024 of roughly $152.7 million, down from $175.1 million in 2023.

As of Dec. 31, Simmons held $26.9 billion in assets and $21.9 billion in deposits, according to the release. Simmons Bank has 222 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

SFNC shares were trading at $22.86 as of 11:52 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $16.03 to $25.95 per share.