Baton Rouge, LA (January 22, 2020) – Business First Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: BFST) (Business First), parent company of b1BANK, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, today announced its unaudited results for the year ended December 31, 2019, including net income of $23.8 million, or $1.74 per diluted share, increases of $9.7 million and $0.52, respectively, from the prior year.
Core net income for the year ended December 31, 2019, which excludes noncore income and expenses, was $24.6 million, or $1.80 per diluted share, which reflects increases of $7.8 million and $0.35, respectively, from the prior year.
“2019 was a year of successful transition for our company,” said Jude Melville, president and CEO. “We rebranded, we opened new locations in growth markets, we solidified relationships from our two most recent acquisitions and we increased core earnings per share year-over-year by almost 25%, while growing organically at a healthy, well capitalized rate and maintaining sound asset quality. I really couldn’t have asked for more from our team over the past year and we take the field just as excited about our opportunities in 2020 as we are celebratory of the year we had in 2019.”
On January 22, 2020, Business First’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend based upon financial performance for the fourth quarter in the amount of $0.10 per share, same as the prior quarter, to the common shareholders of record as of February 15, 2020. The dividend will be paid on February 28, 2020, or as soon thereafter as practicable.
