Southern States Bancshares Q4 Earnings Fall

(RTTNews) - Southern States Bancshares, Inc. (SSBK) Monday reported lower earnings for the fourth quarter, citing ongoing funding expense pressure due to elevated interest rates and increased deposit costs.

Quarterly earnings decreased to $8.896 million or $0.99 per share from $10.592 million or $1.18 per share last year.

Core net income declined to $7.289 million or $0.81 per share from $8.081 or $0.90 per share of the previous year.

Total Interest income was reduced by 1.6 percent to $20.40 million from $20.88 million in the previous year, on the higher cost of interest-bearing deposits due to both rising interest rates and growth.

Total non-interest income decreased to $3.118 million from $4.603 million in the prior year.

On Friday, Southern States Bancshares shares closed at $27.44, up 1.63% on the Nasdaq.