Great Southern Bancorp(US:GSBC)2026-01-22 21:02Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - For Q4 2025, the company reported net income of $16.3 million or $1.45 per diluted common share, an increase from $14.9 million or $1.27 per diluted common share in Q4 2024 [3][10] - Full-year net income for 2025 totaled $71 million or $6.19 per diluted common share, up from $61.8 million or $5.26 per diluted common share in 2024 [10][18] - Net interest income for Q4 2025 was $49.2 million, a slight decrease of $371,000 or 0.7% compared to Q4 2024 [4][11] - Non-interest income increased to $7.2 million in Q4 2025 from $6.9 million in Q4 2024 [13][14] - Non-interest expense decreased to $36 million in Q4 2025, down 2.6% from $36.9 million in Q4 2024 [8][14] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Net loans receivable at year-end totaled $4.336 billion, a decline of $333.5 million or 7.1% from the previous year, primarily due to elevated payoff activity [5][16] - Total deposits decreased by $122.8 million or 2.7% to $4.48 billion at year-end 2025, driven by a decline in brokered deposits [6][17] - Core deposits remained stable, with a notable increase in interest-bearing checking accounts by $75 million [7][17] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Non-performing assets represented 0.15% of total assets at year-end, consistent with both the linked quarter and prior year quarter [7][17] - The company maintained strong liquidity with cash and cash equivalents totaling $189.6 million and access to approximately $1.63 billion in additional borrowing capacity [16][18] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company remains focused on preserving net interest margins, protecting credit quality, controlling non-interest expenses, and opportunistically repurchasing stock [3][9] - The management emphasized a conservative underwriting posture and maintaining strong capital and liquidity levels to navigate economic challenges [9][19] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management acknowledged the challenges in loan growth due to elevated payoffs but expressed confidence in the strength of their loan portfolio and ongoing efforts to originate new loans [30][39] - The company does not expect significant changes in net interest margins in the near term, with a slight bias towards potential increases depending on market conditions [28][29] Other Important Information - Stockholders' equity increased to $636.1 million at year-end 2025, representing 11.4% of total assets, with a book value per common share of $57.50 [18][19] - The board declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.43 per common share, consistent with the previous quarter [20] Q&A Session Summary Question: Margin outlook for 2026 - Management noted that they performed better than expected in Q4 2025, managing funding costs effectively, but did not anticipate significant margin increases moving forward [24][25][28] Question: Loan growth expectations - Management indicated that loan growth would remain challenging due to ongoing payoffs, but they are actively generating new loans [30][32][39] Question: Expense expectations for 2026 - Management acknowledged that expenses may increase due to annual salary adjustments and payroll tax resets [33]