Nevada State Bank parent’s earnings jump

Kevin Rademacher

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

Zions Bancorporation, parent company of Nevada State Bank, reported fourth-quarter net income of $105 million, or $1.15 per share.

The results mark a 9.8 percent increase over the $95.6 million, or $1.05 a share, in net income reported in the same 2003 period.

Harris H. Simmons, chief executive of the Salt Lake City-based bank, credited strong loan growth and good credit quality with the improved results.

The most recent statistics from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. list Nevada State Bank as the third largest bank in Clark County with $1.93 billion in deposits and nearly 50 branches.

For the year, net income for the bank was up 20.2 percent to a record $406 million, or $4.47 a share, an improvement from the $337.8 million, or $3.72 a share, reported for 2003.

Assets at year-end 2004 reached $30.9 billion, up from $28.2 billion at the same time in 2003.

Other banks with local operations also reported higher earnings.

Las Vegas-based Valley Bancorp, which operates three Valley Bank branches, said fourth-quarter net income was more than $1 million, or 35 cents a share, up 128.5 percent from the $446,000, or 25 cents a share, reported in the year-ago quarter.

Total assets were $273.6 million on Dec. 31, up from $186.9 million a year ago.

Las Vegas-based Nevada First Bank, which has four valley branches, reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.4 million, a 280 percent increase from the $352,907 reported for the same 2003 quarter.

Net income for the bank was more than $4 million for the quarter. Total assets at the end of the quarter increased 32 percent to $350 million, up from $265 million a year ago.