PB bank enjoys big 1Q gain

Simmons’ assets jump 77% after two acquisitions close

Simmons First National Corp. earned $8.7 million in the first quarter, almost double the net income of a year earlier, the Pine Bluff bank said Thursday.

Simmons had 39 cents per-share earnings, up 44 percent from 27 cents per share in the first quarter last year.

The bank's core earnings per share, which exclude after-tax expenses, was 70 cents, easily beating the estimate of 65 cents per share by four analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Shares of Simmons fell $1.19 to close Thursday at $43.05 in heavy trading on the Nasdaq exchange.

Two out-of-state bank acquisitions closed in the first quarter -- Community First Bancshares of Union City, Tenn., which had $1.9 billion in assets, and Liberty Bancshares of Springfield, Mo., which had $1.1 billion in assets. Both those deals were announced in May.

That brought Simmons' total assets to $7.8 billion, up 77 percent from $4.4 billion in the first quarter last year. Simmons is now the third-largest bank in Arkansas based on assets, behind Arvest Bank of Fayetteville, which has about $15 billion in assets, and Little Rock's Bank of the Ozarks, which has $8.3 billion in assets.

Simmons didn't get the full effect of the acquisitions because the closings happened with about a month left in the quarter, said Matt Olney, a banking analyst with Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

"This gives [Simmons two more] markets to grow in," Olney said. "Growth for Simmons is important. They have the capital and the capacity to grow. They just need some new markets."

Much of Simmons loan growth has come in metropolitan areas, such as Wichita, Kan.; St. Louis and Little Rock, David Bartlett, Simmons' chief banking officer, said Thursday during a conference call.

Simmons' markets in Arkansas have done well, Bartlett said.

"Jonesboro is always a good loan growth market for us," Bartlett said. "So is south Arkansas. The agriculture business's cycle is just starting to pick up. Most of that will be coming in the second quarter."

Olney said there's room for growth in the Missouri and Tennessee markets.

Simmons is talking with other banks about acquisitions, said George Makris, Simmons' chief executive officer.

Several years ago, when Simmons began its strategy of buying healthy banks, it expected to consider buying banks in a radius of 350 miles from Little Rock, Makris said.

"That has probably expanded a little bit since our territory now includes the entire state of Tennessee," Makris said.

Simmons had considered expanding westward, but that seems somewhat expensive now, Makris said.

"So we may have some opportunities in some contiguous territories, in Tennessee, for instance," Makris said.

It is likely that Simmons will make more acquisitions this year, Olney said.

"I think they are looking at other deals," he said. "Some would be in their markets and some would even be outside their current markets."

Business on 04/24/2015

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