Bank of the Ozarks posts record 3rd-quarter earnings.

Bank of the Ozarks Inc. of Little Rock posted record third-quarter net income of $8.1 million, or 48 cents a share, a 21.4 percent increase over net income of $6.6 million, or 40 cents a share, for the third quarter of 2004.

This beat Wall Street analysts' expectations by a penny.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, net income totaled $23.1 million, or $1.38 a share, a 22.4 percent increase over net income of $18.9 million, or $1.14 a share, for the first nine months of 2004.

The company's annualized returns on average assets and average stockholders' equity for the third quarter were 1.65 percent and 22.62 percent, respectively, compared with 1.66 percent and 23.89 percent for the third quarter of 2004.

Loans and leases were $1.33 billion at Sept. 30, which is 23.9 percent more than the $1.07 billion at the same period a year ago.

Total assets were $2.02 billion at the end of the quarter, a 23.9 percent increase from $1.63 billion last September.

"Record loan growth, excellent asset quality and a record efficiency ratio contributed to our favorable third quarter results and helped us achieve our 19th consecutive quarter of record net income and earnings per share," said George Gleason, chairman and CEO. "We have now reported record net income in 33 of the last 35 quarters. Total loans and leases grew a record $109 million in the quarter. Our Sept. 30, 2005 ratios of nonperforming loans and leases, nonperforming assets and past due loans and leases were each the best we have reported in our eight years as a public company. Good revenue growth, combined with a focus on controlling overhead, resulted in a record efficiency ratio of 43.0 percent for the quarter."