April 25, 2019

Great Western Bancorp Inc. grew its earnings 13 percent year-over-year in the fiscal second quarter, which ended March 31.

Net income was $44.5 million, or 78 cents per share, compared to $40.5 million, or 69 cents per share, for the same time last year.

“We are pleased with the progress we have made this quarter. Our earnings increased over the prior year, and our return on assets and equity remained strong,” said Ken Karels, CEO and chairperson of the board. “In addition, asset-quality metrics continue to trend in line with expectations during the quarter and our agriculture loan portfolio remaining steady.”

Total loans remained steady at $9.77 billion, with fiscal year-to-date growth at $355.0 million, or 3.8 percent.

Total deposits grew to $10.47 billion, an increase of $355.1 million, or 3.5 percent, for the quarter and $734.9 million, or 7.6 percent, for the year.

“We are positive about the second half of our fiscal year and remain confident that loan pipelines support our full-year forecast of mid single-digit loan growth,” Karels said. “The current yield curve provides some challenge to new loan pricing, but we will continue to balance this with pursuing quality credits with strong underwriting criteria and managing our cost of deposits.”

Great Western is based in Sioux Falls and has more than 170 branches in nine states: Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.