BancorpSouth third-quarter earnings rise to $28.8M

BancorpSouth Inc. saw its net income rise more than 15 percent to $28.8 million in the third quarter, as loans and insurance commission revenue increased.

The company reports noninterest revenue was $69.3 million, up from $62.5 million for the year-ago period. Insurance commission revenue played a large role, rising from $23.8 million to $29.2 million.

In the third quarter of 2013, BancorpSouth earned $24.9 million, or 26 cents a share.

BancorpSouth also reported pretax costs of $3.1 million related to Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance weaknesses that have delayed its merger with two banks.

"The primary focus of our efforts during the quarter has been on remediating the regulatory concerns identified regarding our BSA and AML processes," BancorpSouth Chairman and CEO Dan Rollins said in a news release.

"We are pleased with the progress that we have made on these efforts and our people continue to work diligently to make the necessary improvements," he said.

In July, the company said it needed additional time to complete its mergers with Ouachita Bancshares Corp. of West Monroe, Louisiana, and Central Community Corp. of Temple, Texas. BancorpSouth had announced the deals in January and had expected their completion by June 30 of this year.

BancorpSouth said more time was needed to get regulatory approvals and to meet "closing conditions necessary to complete" the mergers. The merger agreements, valued at a combined $325 million in stock and cash, have been extended to June 30 of 2015.

As of Sept. 30, BancorpSouth's total assets were $13.1 billion, compared to $12.9 billion a year ago. Loans and leases totaled $9.5 billion, up from $8.8 billion.

Total deposits at the end of the quarter were $10.7 billion.