SmartFinancial Inc. today reported a 38 percent gain in its second quarter profits as the Knoxville-based banking company grew in size while limiting its costs.
The parent company of SmartBank, which acquired the former Cornerstone Bank two years ago, reported net income of $1.6 million for second quarter of 2017, compared with $900,000 a year ago.
“Compared to last year we grew net interest income by 7 percent while limiting non-interest expense increases to 4 percent,” said Billy Carroll, president of SmartBank. “We increased net interest income not only by growing gross loans, 12 percent year over year, but also by increasing asset yields and thus keeping our net interest margin above 4 percent. “
SmartFinancial Chairman Miller Welborn said SmartBank completed its purchase of the former FSG Bank in Cleveland this spring and announced a deal to buy Capstone Bankshares in Alabama.
“At the same time we organically grew loans by over $35 million and were able to increase net interest margin even with a slight increase in deposit costs,” Welborn said. “Perhaps most importantly, we have done all of this while controlling expense growth by reducing operational headcount while increasing the number of client facing associates.”
Investor urges sale of Barnes & Noble
An activist investor has bought a “meaningful” stake in Barnes & Noble Inc. and is urging the bookseller to sell itself.
Sandell Asset Management Corp. CEO Thomas E. Sandell, in a letter to Barnes & Noble’s board, said “the public market for retail stocks is contributing to a risky and inhospitable environment” and the company would be better served if it were private or part of a larger company.
He did not disclose the amount of Sandell’s stake.
Shares of Barnes & Noble jumped 70 cents, or 9.9 percent, to $7.83 in early Tuesday trading.
In the letter to the board, Sandell said the company is the only “truly national bookstore chain” and compared its locations to “beachfront property.” He said the company could get more than $12 per share.
Trump may re-nominate Yellen to Federal Reserve
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he’s considering either re-nominating Janet Yellen for a second term as Fed chair or replacing her with someone else, possibly Gary Cohn, who leads his National Economic Council.
Trump said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he has a “lot of respect” for Yellen and thinks she is serving capably. The president said he’s still considering asking her to serve four more years after her term ends in February. But he said he’s also considering other candidates, including Cohn, who joined the Trump administration after a 26-year career at Goldman Sachs.
Yellen has declined to say whether she wants to serve another term. When Yellen was chosen to be Fed chair by President Barack Obama, she became the first woman to lead the central bank, succeeding Ben Bernanke in 2014.
Trump said Cohn also was under consideration for the Fed job.
“I’ve known Gary for a long time, but I’ve gained great respect for Gary working with him, so Gary certainly would be in the mix,” Trump said in the interview with the Journal.
BMW to build electric Mini
Germany’s BMW will make the electric version of its Mini compact cars at its factory in Oxford, England, a decision that comes at a time when automakers are scrutinizing investment plans due to Britain’s impending departure from the European Union.
BMW AG said Tuesday the battery-powered Mini would be based on the three-door model. Most of those are already made at the Oxford plant.
BMW is pushing to include more electric vehicles in its lineup by offering hybrid and battery-only models of existing diesel and gasoline cars, on top of its i8 and i3 models designed as electric from the ground up. The entire industry is under pressure to come up with low-emissions cars to meet tighter government pollution standards, including the effort to limit greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.