The parent company of SmartBank boosted its first quarter earnings this year to a record $3.4 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with only $38,000 in first quarter profits a year ago.
SmartFinancial said its organic bank loans grew over 15 percent on an annualized basis in the first quarter and return on average assets for SmartBank rose to 0.91 percent, also a new record high.
"We had a great first quarter with a new record high return on average assets and earnings per share," SmartFinancial CEO Billy Carroll said in an announcement today of the quarterly results. "As an organization we continue to improve on our efficiencies as we capture further economies of scale, even with over half a million in merger related costs."
Smart Bank bought Capstone Bank in Tuscaloosa, Ala. for $84.8 million.last year and is in the process of acquiring Tennessee Bancshares, which operates Southern Community Bank, later this spring, in a deal valued at $31.8 million.
"Our resulting company will have assets approaching $2 billion by quarter end, setting us up for the next stage of growth," SmartFinancial's Chairman Miller Welborn said. "The opportunities before the company and in turn for our shareholders have never been greater. We are well on our way in creating one of the Southeast's next great community banking franchises."
SmartBank, based in Knoxville, merged with the former Cornerstone Bank in Chattanooga in 2015 to become a publicly traded company and has since acquired banks in the Panhandle of Florida, Alabama and East Tennessee.
Shares of SmartFinancial are up 10.6 percent so far in 2018.