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For more information click http://www.bankdirector.com/issues/current/
St. Louis, MO – Commerce Bancshares, Inc. was ranked No. 2 of the 150 top performing banks in the Bank Director magazine 4th Quarter 2006 publication. The ranking measures each institution across three important categories including profitability, capital adequacy, and asset quality for the yearly period July 2005 to June 2006.
"We are very thrilled to be recognized as a top-performing financial institution because it's a reflection of the sophisticated products and services we provide to our customers," said David W. Kemper, chairman, president and CEO of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. "At Commerce, we continue to devote our time and energy to the individual customer in our pursuit of providing the right solutions for each customer. This award is not only an acknowledgement of Commerce's firm commitment to our customers but to the great work our employees do every day."
How the Scorecard Works
The magazine enlisted New York-based investment banking firm Sandler O'Neill and Partners to create and apply a bank performance scorecard to accurately and fairly measure the performance of institutions across the country.
According to the Bank Director magazine, the Bank Performance Scorecard is determined by using six performance criteria that measure profitability, balance sheet strength, and asset quality. The criteria are:
Commerce Bancshares Honored by Bank Director Magazine/Add Two
- Return on average assets, which measures a bank’s profitability relative to its total assets.
- Return on average equity, a second measurement of profitability that focuses on shareholder returns.
- Tier-1 capital ratio, which is comprised of shareholders’ equity, retained earnings, and convertible preferred stock divided by total assets.
- Leverage ratio, which is shareholders’ equity divided by total assets.
- Nonperforming asset ratio, which is the ratio of nonaccrual loans and foreclosed assets to total loans and Other Real Estate Owned.
- Reserve coverage, which is loan loss reserves divided by total loans.
As the magazine stated, "the institutions received a numerical rating in each individual category, with the highest ranked bank getting a score of one and the lowest ranked bank a score of 150. Each bank’s and thrift’s scores were then added across and the bank with the lowest score won. In the four categories that received a half weighting, the institutions’ actual scores were divided by two before they were added up. For example, a bank that finished 20th in the leverage ratio category only received 10 points for scoring purposes."
About Commerce Bank
Commerce Bank is the principal subsidiary of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBSH), a $15.2 billion regional bank holding company. For more than 140 years, Commerce has been meeting the financial services needs of individuals and businesses. Commerce provides a diversified line of financial services, including business and personal banking, wealth management and estate planning and investments through its affiliated companies. Commerce currently operates in approximately 360 locations in the Midwest with primary locations in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Commerce also has operating subsidiaries involved in mortgage banking, credit related insurance, venture capital and real estate activities.
For more information contact:
Jeanne Howard
(314) 746-3672, or
Jeanne.howard@commercebank.com
Website: www.commercebank.com
e-mail: mymoney@commercebank.com
SYMBOL: CBSH
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