Stock Market Watch

COMMERCE BANCSHARES – CBSH – Record first quarter earnings per share of $.74

by ·


COMMERCE BANCSHARES, INC. (NASDAQ – CBSH) announced record earnings of $.74 per share for the three months ended March 31, 2012 compared to $.66 per share in the first quarter of 2011, or an increase of 12.1%. Net income for the first quarter amounted to $65.8 million compared to $60.5 million in the same quarter last year. For the quarter, the return on average assets totaled 1.29%, the return on average equity was 12.0% and the efficiency ratio was 58.9%.

In announcing these results, David W. Kemper, Chairman and CEO, said, “We were pleased to report record first quarter earnings per share of $.74. The growth over last year resulted mainly from a decline in our provision for loan losses of $7.6 million coupled with revenue growth in our corporate card, capital markets and money management businesses of 17%, 46% and 6%, respectively. Additionally, non-interest expense declined 2% compared to the same period last year. Average loans grew $70.8 million, or 1%, this quarter compared to the previous quarter, as a result of growth in business, business real estate and personal real estate loans. Average deposits also grew by $270.2 million this quarter, or 2%. While net interest income declined 1% compared to the previous quarter, the margin remained stable.”

Further, Mr. Kemper noted, “Net loan charge-offs for the current quarter totaled $11.2 million, compared to $15.6 million in the previous quarter and $18.8 million in the first quarter of 2011. Commercial net loan charge-offs totaled $1.8 million this quarter, down $2.2 million from the previous quarter, while bankcard net loan charge-offs totaled $6.2 million, or 3.4% of average bankcard loans. During the current quarter, the provision for loan losses totaled $8.2 million, or $3.0 million less than net loan charge-offs, and reflected the improving credit trends in our loan portfolio. Our allowance for loan losses amounted to $181.5 million this quarter, representing 2.6 times our non-performing loans. Total non-performing assets decreased $6.3 million to $87.5 million this quarter. At March 31, 2012, our ratio of tangible common equity to assets remained strong at 10.1%, and during the quarter we repurchased approximately 811,000 shares of Company stock at an average price per share of $39.”


Total assets at March 31, 2012 were $20.5 billion, total loans were $9.3 billion, and total deposits were $16.8 billion.

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. is a registered bank holding company offering a full line of banking services, including investment management and securities brokerage. The Company currently operates in approximately 360 locations in Missouri, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. The Company also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit related insurance, and private equity activities.

More Posts by this author

edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


Tags:

Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

You may also like...