Business
Business First Bancshares, Inc., Announces Financial Results For Q1 2019
BATON ROUGE, La., April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: BFST) (Business First), parent company of Business First Bank, Baton
About this update from Business First Bancshares, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"BATON ROUGE, La., April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: BFST) (Business First), parent company of Business First Bank, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, today announced its unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, including record quarterly net income of $5.7 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, increases of $2.6 million and $0.12, respectively, from the quarter ended March 31, 2018. Core net income, which excludes noncore income and expenses, was $5.6 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, which reflects increases of $2.1 million and $0.07, respectively, from the quarter ended March 31, 2018. \n\n \n\"I am very pleased with our performance to begin 2019,\" said Jude Melville, President and CEO. \"In this challenging rate environment, our team has remained focused and disciplined on loan growth, margin and spread without sacrificing the Bank's credit quality and underwriting standards.\" \n\"The addition of Richland State Bank to the existing Business First franchise was evident in our first quarter results, and we are excited about the value our combined franchises will continue to generate for our shareholders and customers in the future.\"\nOn April 23, 2019, Business First's board of directors declared a quarterly dividend based upon financial performance for the quarter in the amount of $0.10 per share to the common shareholders of record as of May 15, 2019, an increase of $0.02, or 25% from the prior quarter. The dividend will be paid on May 31, 2019, or as soon thereafter as practicable. \nQuarterly Highlights\nHigher Shareholder Returns. Diluted earnings per share were $0.41, annualized return on average assets was 1.09%, and annualized return on average equity was 8.62%, compared to $0.28, 0.75% and 6.03%, respectively, from the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Core earnings per diluted share were $0.41, compared to $0.38 for the quarter ended December 31, 2018. As adjusted, annualized core return on average assets was 1.08% and annualized core return on average equity was 8.57%, compared to 1.03% and 8.23%, respectively, from the quarter ended December 31, 2018. Robust Loan Growth. Total loans held for investment at March 31, 2019, were $1.6 billion, an increase of $57.7 million compared to December 31, 2018. Annualized organic loan growth for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, was 1...