BancorpSouth Raises $109 Million in Public Offering

BancorpSouth Inc. in Tupelo, Miss., raised $109.3 million in a common stock offering, a week after the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

The $13 billion-asset company said Tuesday that it sold more than 10.9 million shares of common stock at $10.50 each.

BancorpSouth said that it would use the proceeds to maintain capital levels and to provide equity capital to unit BancorpSouth Bank. The company also said it may use the funds for future organic growth or acquisitions of other financial institutions, insurance agencies or other businesses.

The company said last week that fourth-quarter profit, at $13.3 million, fell 16% from a year earlier. But at 16 cents a share, the results surpassed the average analysts’ estimate by a penny, according to Thomson Reuters.

At the end of 2011, the company’s total risk-based capital was 13.03% and tangible common equity ratio was 7.67%.