UPDATE: Prosperity Bancshares Posts Higher Q4 Earnings

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. PB reported a rise in its fourth-quarter earnings. The Houston, Texas-based bank posted quarterly earnings of $78.23 million, or $1.12 per share, up from $62.97 million, or $0.98 per share, in the year-ago period. Its revenue came in at $207.9 million in the quarter. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $1.08 per share on revenue of $203.1 million. Noninterest income rose 19.7% to $30.106 million, while noninterest expense surged 23.6% to $84.762 million. Average loans rose or 28.8% y/y to $9.325 billion, while average deposits climbed 20.6% to $17.118 billion for the quarter. At December 31, 2014, Prosperity Bancshares had $21.508 billion in total assets, $9.244 billion in loans and $17.693 billion in deposits. For the year, Prosperity Bancshares posted a profit of $297.4 million, on revenue of $794 million. David Zalman, Prosperity's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, "Although our fundamentals are strong, our stock price has languished recently. We believe the stock price decline is due to investor sentiment regarding the decrease in crude oil prices. We have reviewed our energy credits and have not seen any negative effects in the loan portfolio to date, although we expect it may take 6 to 9 months to feel the impact of lower oil prices. Our management team has been in banking since the 1980's and is familiar lending to the energy industry and in Texas and Oklahoma.” Prosperity Bancshares shares rose 0.45% to close at $47.00 yesterday.