Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) Q1 2024 Earnings Conference Call April 25, 2024 5:00 PM ET Company Participants Matthew Sealy - SVP, Director of Corporate Strategy and FP&A Jude Melville - President and CEO Greg Robertson - CFO Philip Jordan - Chief Banking Officer Jerry Vascocu - Chief Administrative Officer Conference Call Participants Matthew Olney - Stephens Michael Rose - Raymond James Feddie Strickland - Janney Manuel Navas - D.A. Davidson Operator Thank you for standing by. My name is M ...

For the quarter ended March 2024, Business First (BFST) reported revenue of $60.92 million, down 0.4% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $0.50, compared to $0.55 in the year-ago quarter.The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $61.93 million, representing a surprise of -1.64%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of -12.28%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $0.57.While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall St ...

| --- | --- | --- | --- | |-------|-----------------|-------|-------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Liabilities and | | | | | Shareholders' | | | | | | | | | | Equity | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | |--------------------|---------------|---------------|---------------| | | | | | | | | | | | NoninterestBearing | | | | | Liabilities: | | | | | | | | | | NoninterestBearing | | | | | Deposits | $ 1,282,815 | $ 1,368,452 | $ 1,473,186 | | Other | 57,510 | 54, ...

BATON ROUGE, La., April 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) ("Business First" or the "Company"), the holding company for b1BANK, today announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Oakwood Bancshares, Inc. and its wholly-owned bank subsidiary, Oakwood Bank (together, Oakwood), in an all-stock transaction for total consideration value of approximately $85.7 million based on the Company's closing price of $21.57 per share on April 22, 2024. Once comple ...

BATON ROUGE, La., April 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:BFST) (Business First), parent company of b1BANK, today announced its unaudited results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, including net income available to common shareholders of $12.2 million or $0.48 per diluted common share, decreases of $2.3 million and $0.09, respectively, compared to the linked quarter ended December 31, 2023. On a non-GAAP basis, core net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, which ...

While the proven Zacks Rank places an emphasis on earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find strong stocks, we also know that investors tend to develop their own individual strategies. With this in mind, we are always looking at value, growth, and momentum trends to discover great companies.Of these, perhaps no stock market trend is more popular than value investing, which is a strategy that has proven to be successful in all sorts of market environments. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics an ...

BATON ROUGE, La., April 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: BFST), the parent company of b1BANK, announced that it is scheduled to release first quarter 2024 earnings after market close on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Executive management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss results on the same day (Thursday, April 25, 2024) at 4:00 p.m. CST. Interested parties may attend the call by dialing toll-free 1-800-715-9871 (North America only), conference ID 5574541, or ...

BATON ROUGE, La., April 02, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Business First Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: BFST), the parent company of b1BANK, announced that it is scheduled to release first quarter 2024 earnings after market close on Thursday, April 25, 2024. Executive management will host a conference call and webcast to discuss results on the same day (Thursday, April 25, 2024) at 4:00 p.m. CST. Interested parties may attend the call by dialing toll-free 1-800-715-9871 (North America only), conference ID 5574541, or ...

Shares of Business First (BFST) have gained 1.8% over the past four weeks to close the last trading session at $22.28, but there could still be a solid upside left in the stock if short-term price targets of Wall Street analysts are any indication. Going by the price targets, the mean estimate of $27.88 indicates a potential upside of 25.1%.The mean estimate comprises four short-term price targets with a standard deviation of $1.65. While the lowest estimate of $26 indicates a 16.7% increase from the curren ...

Financial Performance - Total interest income for 2023 was $353.3 million, a 49.8% increase from $236.1 million in 2022[410]. - Net income for 2023 reached $71.0 million, up 30.9% from $54.3 million in 2022[411]. - Net interest income after provision for credit losses was $210.6 million, compared to $188.7 million in 2022, marking an increase of 11.6%[410]. - Total other income increased to $36.6 million in 2023 from $29.3 million in 2022, representing a growth of 24.0%[410]. - Earnings per common share (diluted) for 2023 was $2.59, compared to $2.32 in 2022, an increase of 11.6%[410]. - Other comprehensive income for 2023 was $7.6 million, compared to a loss of $73.0 million in 2022[411]. - Consolidated net income for 2023 was $71,043 million, an increase of 30.9% compared to $54,255 million in 2022[440]. - Net cash provided by operating activities rose to $92,427 million, up 32.8% from $69,577 million in the previous year[440]. - Income tax expense totaled $19.5 million, an increase of $5.2 million, or 36.3%, compared to $14.3 million for the same period in 2022[517]. - Basic earnings per common share increased to $2.62 in 2023 from $2.34 in 2022, reflecting a growth of 11.97%[541]. Loan and Credit Quality - The allowance for loan losses was $40.4 million as of December 31, 2023, reflecting a forward-looking expected loss model[401]. - The company reported a provision for credit losses of $4.5 million in 2023, down from $10.9 million in 2022[410]. - Provision for credit losses decreased to $4,483 million from $10,886 million, indicating improved credit quality[440]. - Nonaccrual loans totaled $16.9 million as of December 31, 2023, compared to $11.1 million in 2022, indicating a rise of 52.3%[555]. - The allowance for credit losses utilizes forward-looking expected loss models, considering various factors affecting lifetime credit losses[488]. Assets and Equity - Total assets increased to $6,584,550,000 as of December 31, 2023, compared to $5,990,460,000 at December 31, 2022, reflecting a growth of approximately 9.9%[432]. - Total shareholders' equity at the end of 2023 reached $644,259,000, up from $580,481,000 in 2022, indicating a year-over-year increase of 11%[414]. - The company’s retained earnings increased to $216,115,000 from $163,955,000, reflecting a growth of about 31.8%[432]. - The total allowance for credit losses was $43.738 million, representing 100.0% of the total[520]. Deposits and Funding - The net increase in deposits for 2023 was $444,780,000, significantly higher than the $265,827,000 increase in 2022[417]. - Total deposits increased to $5,248,790,000, a rise from $4,820,345,000, representing an increase of approximately 8.9%[432]. - The company had outstanding debt of $300.0 million under the BTFP program at December 31, 2023, with a fixed interest rate of 4.38%[524]. - Total commitments to extend credit amounted to $1.35 billion as of December 31, 2023, compared to $1.56 billion in 2022[553]. Acquisitions and Investments - The company completed the acquisition of SSW, a registered investment advisor with approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management, on April 1, 2021[418]. - The acquisition of Texas Citizens Bancorp, Inc. was completed on March 1, 2022, with the issuance of 2,069,532 shares and TCBI reporting total assets of $534.2 million, loans of $349.5 million, and deposits of $477.2 million[478]. - The Company recorded approximately $236,000 and $5.2 million in acquisition-related costs for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively[508]. - Goodwill resulting from the merger was $28.649 million[534]. Cash Management - The company reported a net cash provided by financing activities of $502,084,000 in 2023, down from $715,309,000 in 2022[417]. - The cash and cash equivalents at the end of 2023 were $226,110,000, compared to $152,740,000 at the end of 2022, marking a 48% increase[417]. - Net cash used in investing activities decreased to $521,141 million from $700,521 million, reflecting better cash management[440]. Regulatory and Compliance - The company maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2023, according to the independent auditor's report[405]. - The company does not anticipate any material changes to critical accounting estimates in the near term[419]. - The Company does not believe it has taken any tax positions requiring additional tax liability as of December 31, 2023, and 2022[469]. Miscellaneous - The company is expanding its market presence in Louisiana and Texas, focusing on full-service banking centers and loan production offices[440]. - The Company adopted ASU 2016-13 on January 1, 2023, changing the allowance for credit losses to a model based on expected losses, resulting in an $827,000 reduction to retained earnings[474][487]. - The fair value of securities available for sale was recorded at $879,571,000, down from $890,751,000, indicating a decrease of approximately 1.9%[432].