Bank of the Ozarks Inc. of Little Rock on Thursday announced record fourth-quarter net income of $51.5 million, up 48 percent from the same quarter last year.
The publicly traded company (Nasdaq: OZRK) said diluted earnings per common share were 57 cents, up 33 percent from the same quarter last year. EPS beat analysts' expectations by a penny.
The company also reported year-end results. It said full-year net income was a record $182.3 million, up 54 percent from $118.6 million for the full year of 2014. Diluted earnings per common share were $2.09, up 38 percent from $1.52 for 2014.
"We are very pleased with our outstanding fourth quarter results, highlighted by our record quarterly growth of $1.08 billion in non-purchased loans and leases and our record quarterly growth of $939 million in the unfunded balance of our closed loans," CEO George Gleason said in a news release. "This exceptional growth was achieved while adhering to our very conservative credit principles, as evidenced by some of our best asset quality ratios as a public company."
The company said deposits were $7.97 billion at Dec. 31, up 45 percent from 2014. Total assets were $9.88 billion at Dec. 31, 2015, up 46 percent from $6.77 billion from 2014.
The company said net interest income for the quarter was a record $106.5 million, up 35 percent from $78.7 million last year. Non-interest income was $30.5 million, up 9.5 percent from $27.9 million last year.
The company's efficiency ratio improved to 37.1 percent in the quarter, down from 44.1 percent in the same quarter last year.
The company also reported a returns on average asset for the full year of 2.11 percent. Gleason said the company has now achieved returns on average assets in excess of 2 percent for each of the last six years.
Bank of the Ozarks announced on Thursday plans to build a new headquarters in west Little Rock.