Simmons First National Corp. was recognized by online business publication TheStreet.com for strong growth in a couple of key areas in April.
In an April 26 article entitled ‘6 Banks Actually Growing Their Banking Business” by Philip van Doorn, that used data provided by Highline Financial, Simmons was ranked as one of six banks that produced sequential and year-over-year increases in net interest income as well as net interest margin in the first quarter of 2012.
Net interest income is measured by the difference between the revenue that is generated from a bank’s assets and the expenses associated with paying out its liabilities, according to investopedia.com. Assets include all forms of personal and commercial loans, mortgages and securities while liabilities are customer deposits.
Net interest margin is the difference between the average yield on loans and investments and the average cost for a bank’s deposits and wholesale borrowings, according to the report.
Data is sequential when moving from one quarter to the next as in fourth quarter of 2011 versus first quarter of 2012.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Year-over-year data is calculated from a particular month to the same month one year earlier, as first quarter of 2012 versus first quarter of 2011.
Simmons reported first quarter net interest income of $27.7 million, an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous quarter and three percent year-over-year. The first quarter net interest margin was 3.75 percent, according to Highline, increasing from 3.71 percent in the second quarter, and 3.68 percent in the first quarter of 2011.
First quarter net income at Simmons was $6.4 million, or 37 cents a share, increasing from $6.3 million or 37 cents a share in the fourth quarter, and $5.1 million, or 29 cents a share, during the first quarter of 2011.
“Obviously, we are pleased with our first quarter earnings performance,” J. Thomas May, Simmons’ Chairman and CEO, said in a press release dated April 19. “We benefited significantly from continued pristine asset quality which has resulted in a reduction in our provision for loan losses, and our on-going efficiency initiatives that resulted in a decrease in our non-interest expense.”
Other banks included in the ranking included CVB Financial of Ontario, Calif.; Washington Federal of Seattle, Wash.; TCF Financial of Wayzata, Minn.; Cathay General Bancorp of Los Angeles, Calif.; and Brookline Bancorp of Brookline, Mass.