Bank of the Ozarks earned almost $24.4 million in the fourth quarter last year, up 18 percent from about $20.7 million the same period of 2012, the Little Rock-based bank said Thursday.
Bank of the Ozarks earned 66 cents a share for the quarter, up from 59 cents in the fourth quarter of 2012. That beat the earnings projection of 65 cents a share forecast by about 10 analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
Bank of the Ozarks closed at $56.57 Thursday, down 38 cents, in trading on the Nasdaq exchange. The bank released its earnings report after the market closed.
George Gleason, the bank’s chairman and chief executive officer, said he was pleased with the bank’s “excellent fourth-quarter results.”
“Our capabilities to generate loan and lease growth have been clearly evident [in 2013],” Gleason said.
Loans and leases, excluding loans covered by the federal government from acquisitions of failed banks, were $2.6 billion on Dec. 31, up 24 percent from $2.1 billion on Dec. 31, 2012.
At the end of the quarter, Bank of the Ozarks had $4.8 billion in assets.
For the year, Bank of the Ozarks had net income of $87.1 million, up about 13 percent fr om $77 million earned in 2012. The earnings per share for last year were $2.41, up from $2.21 in 2012.
Bank of the Ozarks did “phenomenally well” in 2013, said Matt Olney, a Stephens analyst who owns no shares in the bank.
The bank did well in loan growth and announced the acquisition of two banks, Olney said. During the year, Bank of the Ozarks purchased Omnibank in Houston for $23 million and First National Bank of Shelby, N.C., for about $68 million. Omnibank has eight offices in the Houston area, and First National has 14 offices in an area near Charlotte.
This year, Olney said, he expects Bank of the Ozarks to increase its loans more than in 2013 and continue with its strategy of buying banks.
“I think both of those engines are just now getting ramped up,” Olney said.
Bank of the Ozarks has 132 offices: 66 in Arkansas, 28 in Georgia, 15 in North Carolina, 14 in Texas, four in Florida, three in Alabama and one each in South Carolina and New York.
Bank of the Ozarks will have a conference call today at 10 a.m. to discuss the fourth-quarter results. Access to the call is available by dialing (888) 299-7209 and asking for the Bank of the Ozarks conference call.
Recorded playback of the call is available at (888) 203-1112 with the use of the pass code 3160313.
The call also will be available live or recorded on the bank’s website www.bankozarks.com under “investor relations.”
Business, Pages 31 on 01/17/2014