BancFirst Posts Higher Profit, Adds Provisions, Plans SpiritBank Deal
BancFirst reported second-quarter net income of $66.7 million, up 7.1% from a year earlier, as it disclosed a pending acquisition of SpiritBank.
BancFirst (BANF) reported second-quarter net income of $66.7 million, or $1.96 a diluted share, up from $62.3 million, or $1.85 a share, in the year-earlier period, a 7.1% increase. The Oklahoma-based bank holding company also disclosed during the quarter that it agreed to acquire SpiritBank, adding communities in the Tulsa metro area including Bristow and Sapulpa, with the deal awaiting regulatory approval and expected to close and convert systems in the fourth quarter.
The results extended a trend of margin expansion alongside asset growth. Net interest income rose to $133.5 million from $121.3 million a year earlier, an increase of about 10.1%, and climbed from $127.6 million in the first quarter. Net interest margin expanded to 3.84% from 3.75% a year earlier, continuing a broader climb that lifted the first-half margin to 3.79% from 3.72% in the same period of 2024.
Credit costs moved higher. BancFirst set aside $4.9 million for credit losses in the quarter, up from $1.4 million a year earlier and a reversal from a $2.0 million benefit recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024. Nonaccrual loans rose to 0.94% of total loans at June 30 from 0.72% at year-end, with nonaccrual balances of $81.4 million, while the allowance for credit losses edged up to 1.25% of total loans from 1.22%. Net charge-offs, however, fell to $2.4 million from $4.7 million a year earlier.
Noninterest income grew 12.3% to $53.9 million from $48.0 million, with gains in trust revenue, deposit service charges, securities transactions and treasury and cash management income, partially offset by lower insurance commissions. The quarter included $2.9 million in gains from bank-owned life insurance claims, a disclosure not present in prior periods.
Noninterest expense rose 10.6% to $97.5 million from $88.2 million, driven largely by a $5.2 million increase in salaries and employee benefits to $60.3 million, net of an $800,000 favorable benefit-trust adjustment, along with a $1.6 million rise in net expense tied to other real estate owned. That OREO expense, which spiked to $12.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 from $2.8 million in the third quarter, has since eased to $3.6 million in the first quarter and $4.6 million in the second, though it remains above the $2.9 million recorded a year ago.
Total assets grew to $15.1 billion at June 30, up $243.4 million from year-end 2024, with loans rising $110.6 million to $8.7 billion and deposits increasing $155.9 million to $12.8 billion. Sweep accounts, a component of deposits, rose $100.8 million to $5.0 billion over the same period.
Stockholders' equity increased to $2.0 billion, up $103.0 million from year-end 2024 and marking the fifth consecutive quarterly gain, from $1.728 billion in the second quarter of 2024. Tangible book value per share rose to $52.21, up from $50.58 in the first quarter and $46.12 a year earlier. Return on average assets was 1.77%, down slightly from 1.79% a year earlier but up from 1.60% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
For the first six months of 2025, BancFirst reported net income of $129.7 million, or $3.81 a diluted share, up from $118.5 million, or $3.51 a share, in the same period of 2024, with its efficiency ratio improving to 53.02% from 53.98%.