LITTLE ROCK — Bank of the Ozarks earned $20.7 million in the fourth quarter, up 18 percent from $17.6 million it earned in the fourth quarter of 2011, the Little Rock bank said Wednesday.
The bank earned 59 cents per share in the quarter, beating the fourth-quarter earnings expectations of 55 cents by 10 analysts, according to Thomson Reuters. Bank of the Ozarks earned 51 cents a share in the fourth quarter of 2011.
For the year, net income was $77 million, down 24 percent from $101.3 million in 2011. Earnings per share for 2012 was $2.21, down 25 percent from $2.94 in 2011.
A $50.2 million profit in the second quarter of 2011, the most profitable quarter in the bank’s history, came from the purchase of three failed banks.
Bank of the Ozarks shares closed at $34.52 Wednesday, down 10 cents in trading on the Nasdaq exchange. The bank’s earnings report was released about two hours after the markets closed.
In the fourth quarter, the bank saw one of the biggest increases in loans and leases in its history, George Gleason, the bank’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Loans and leases in 2012, excluding those acquired in acquisitions, grew by $235 million from 2011, said Gleason, also the largest shareholder of the bank with about 3.3 million shares or about 10 percent of the stock.
Bank of the Ozarks had assets of $4 billion at the end of December, up from $3.8 billion at the close of 2011.
Bank of the Ozarks is benefiting significantly from its Dallas area offices, said Matt Olney, an analyst with Stephens Inc. Olney owns no stock in the bank. Bank of the Ozarks has been a client of Stephens for investment banking services in the past year.
Bank of the Ozarks has 13 offices in Texas - two in Texarkana and 11 in the Dallas metropolitan area. The Dallas area branches have more than $300 million in deposits.That is about 11 percent of the bank’s total deposits in only 7.8 percent of its branches, as of June 30, the most recent information available.
About half of the bank’s loans come from its Texas offices, Olney said.
Bank of the Ozarks has had offices in the Dallas area for almost 10 years, he said.
“They are balancing their Dallas growth along with their [acquisitions] strategy,” Olney said.
Bank of the Ozarks has bought seven failed banks through the federal government and has purchased one healthy bank since 2010.
“So they have all kinds of opportunities,” Olney said, referring to growing internally or through failed bank or healthy bank acquisitions.
“I expect a bigger and bigger portion of the overallgrowth of the company to come out of Dallas,” Olney said.
Bank of the Ozarks has 177 bank offices, including 66 in Arkansas, 28 in Georgia, 13 in Texas, four in Florida, three in Alabama, two in North Carolina and one in South Carolina.
Bank of the Ozarks will hold a conference call today at 10 a.m. to discuss the fourth quarter results.
To access the call, dial (888) 455-2296 and ask for the Bank of the Ozarks call. A recorded playback will be available for one week after the call at (888) 203-1112. The code for the playback is 2734257. The call also will be available on the company’s website, www.bankozarks. com, under “investor relations.”
Business, Pages 25 on 01/17/2013