Commerce bank cites loan growth for higher profits in 2016

A 12.4 percent increase in fourth-quarter profits helped Commerce Bancshares Inc. boost earnings for all 2016 by 4.4 percent, the Kansas City-based banking company said Wednesday.

Commerce said higher loan volumes led to $71.6 million in profits during October, November and December, or 68 cents a share. A year ago, Commerce earned $63.7 million, or 60 cents a share in the quarter.

For the year, the company earned $275.4 million, or $2.61 a share, compared with $263.7 million, or $2.43 a share, a year ago.

Loan balances ended 2016 at $13.4 billion, compared with $12.4 billion a year earlier. Commerce said loan growth in the quarter came from business real estate loan borrowers as well as consumers seeking residential mortgages and other kinds of loans.

Assets were $25.6 billion at the end of December, including $9.8 billion in investment securities. Deposits totaled $21.1 billion. The quarterly profit equaled a 1.14 percent return on average assets during the quarter.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Commerce bank cites loan growth for higher profits in 2016."