RankingBanking 24 Digital (1) - Flipbook - Page 12
10
Bank OZK Profits
From Banking’s
Siren Song
By Kiah Lau Haslett
T
here is perhaps no midsized
line that critics say generates outsized credit risk.
bank in the United States man-
While this criticism is nothing new, the current
aging credit risk as publicly as
macroeconomic environment poses a formidable
Bank OZK.
challenge to the bank’s ability to manage risk.
The $36.8 billion bank is in
Bank OZK would not take all this risk if it
Little Rock, Arkansas, but it fi-
was not lucrative. Its return on average assets in
nances projects that shape the
2023 hit 2.28%, aided by a net interest margin of
skylines of major cities across
5.16%, and its efficiency ratio was 33.70%. Bank
the U.S.: Luxury apartments, condo buildings, new
OZK tied for 16th in overall financial performance
office complexes and skyscrapers. It is no stranger
in Bank Director’s 2024 RankingBanking analy-
to construction and development loans, having lent
sis of the 300 largest publicly traded banks and
to the space for decades through numerous eco-
was ninth in the category of banks with between
nomic cycles. It is this business line that has driv-
$5 billion and $50 billion in assets. The ranking
en its historic profitability, and it is this business
uses 2023 financial metrics regarding capital ade-
