Simmons First 3Q results affected by acquisition

Pine Bluff, Ark.-based Simmons First National Corp. (Nasdaq: SFNC) posted profits of $6.8 million in the third quarter, a 6.9 percent decrease from earnings of $7.3 million in the same quarter of the prior year.

The holding company, which operates a Simmons First National Bank in Springfield at 3333 E. Battlefield Road, recorded earnings per share of 41 cents during the latest quarter, a 1-cent decrease, according to a news release.

Near the end of the third quarter, Simmons First on Sept. 14 entered a purchase and assumption agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to purchase $219 million in assets and assume the deposits and liabilities of St. Louis-based Truman Bank. The purchase contributed $185,000 to the company's third-quarter net income.

The company's loans, including those acquired, totaled $1.9 billion at the end of the third quarter, a $56 million increase from the same period in 2011. “On a quarter-over-quarter basis, loans acquired in the Truman acquisition were $130 million net of discounts, FDIC-covered loans from previous acquisitions declined $66 million, as expected, and legacy loans declined $8 million,” Simmons First Chairman and CEO J. Thomas May said in the release.

In another FDIC-assisted acquisition completed last week, Simmons First increased its Missouri presence by acquiring roughly $201 million in assets of Excel Bank of Sedalia. The bank was shut down by the Missouri Division of Finance Oct. 19. The acquisition will affect the company's fourth-quarter results, according to a separate news release.

As of Sept. 30, the company's assets were $3.4 billion, its liabilities were $3 billion and its deposits were $2.8 billion.

Simmons First's shares were trading at $24.03 as of 10:06 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $22.55 to $28.54.