Press Releases

SOUTHERN BANK NAMED TOP COMMUNITY BANK

Southern Bank announced today that it was included in SNL Financial’s listing of top 100 community banks for 2010. Among all publicly-traded community banks in the United States, Southern Bank’s 2010 performance was ranked second. Among all public and privately owned community banks in the listing, Southern Bank was ranked thirteenth. Southern Bank is a subsidiary of Southern Missouri Bancorp, which trades under the ticker “SMBC” on the NASDAQ Global Market.

Southern Bank was selected based on criteria including its profitability, asset quality, efficiency, and loan growth. “We had a great year,” commented Greg Steffens, Southern Bank’s President and CEO. “It’s nice to have this recognition of that fact, and I congratulate our terrific employees on the results of their hard work.”

In terms of loan growth, Southern Bank was ranked number one out of the banks reviewed by SNL Financial, with 39% growth in its loan portfolio. Operating 16 full-service banking locations in Missouri and Arkansas, Southern Bank has also recently opened loan production offices in Springfield, Missouri, and Little Rock, Arkansas. “While we still hear about some banks that aren’t interested in lending money, we think it’s a great time to be out there building our market share by partnering with small businesses that have good credit histories and sound business models,” noted Bill Hribovsek, Southern Bank’s Chief Lending Officer.

As impressive as Southern Bank’s loan growth was, it was exceeded slightly by deposit growth in 2010. “We showed 41% deposit growth in the 2010 calendar year,” explained Kimberly Capps, Southern Bank’s Chief Operations Officer. “We attribute that to our very popular line of Kasasa Checking accounts, our competitive savings accounts and certificates of deposits, and our continued expansion into new markets.”

At December 31, 2010, Southern Bank reported assets of $690 million. From its 1887 founding as a building and loan association, Southern Bank has grown to a full-service commercial bank focused on pairing community bank service with the latest technology in delivering financial services to its valued customers.

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