First Bancshares, Inc. Announces Operating Results for the Quarter Ended September 30, 2026

MOUNTAIN GROVE, Mo., Oct. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Bancshares, Inc. (OTCQX: FBSI) (“Company”), the holding company for Stockmens Bank (“Bank”), today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2026.

For the third quarter of 2026, the Company reported after-tax net income of $2,559,000 or $1.05 per share-diluted compared to $2,008,000 or $0.83 per share-diluted for the same period in 2025. For the nine months ended September 30, 2026, net income was $6,814,000 or $2.82 per share-diluted, compared to $5,524,000 or $2.29 per share-diluted for the same period in 2025. Third quarter net income and earnings per share were Company records, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of record earnings and reflecting continued improvement in core operations that began well before the recent expansion activity. Net interest income increased 26.9% over the prior-year quarter on strong loan growth. Interest expense increased only 7.0% despite 20.8% deposit growth, reducing cost of funds to 1.77% from 2.01% and expanding net interest margin to 4.87% from 4.62%. The efficiency ratio improved to 56.7% for the first nine months of 2026 from 59.3% for the same period in 2025, despite acquisition-related expenses. With the Westcliffe, CO branch now contributing a full quarter, the annualized after-tax return on assets rebounded to 1.53% from 1.37% in the second quarter, and the annualized after-tax return on equity rebounded to 14.18% from 12.38%. Both of those ratios exceed the 1.43% and 12.57% reported for the third quarter of 2025.