Business First Bancshares, Inc. BFST
Business First Bancshares, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the parent company of b1BANK, formerly known as Business First Bank, a Louisiana state banking association and community-based financial institution that offers a full array of banking products and services. We currently operate throughout the state of Louisiana, in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and Houston, from a network of banking centers and loan production offices.
Since our founding in 2006, our mission has not changed – we seek to be the financial institution of choice for our markets' small-to-midsized businesses and their owners and employees. To achieve this goal, we focus on recruiting, retaining and empowering talented bankers who are intimately familiar with and well respected in the communities that they serve, and on providing market-leading products and services that add value to our customers' businesses. We are currently one of the largest Louisiana-based financial institutions. As of December 31, 2025, on a consolidated basis, we had total assets of $8.2 billion, total loans of $6.2 billion, total deposits of $6.7 billion and shareholders' equity of $896.9 million.
Valuation FY2025 figures against the last close
Annual financial statements
Income statement
| Fiscal year | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 | FY2019 | FY2018 | FY2017 | FY2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $10.7M | $10.6M | $9.7M | $8.3M | $6.8M | $5.4M | $4.0M | $2.8M | $2.1M | $2.0M |
| Interest expense | $273.2M | $227.4M | $215.1M | $199.6M | $16.6M | $22.1M | $23.3M | $14.0M | $7.2M | $5.8M |
| Pre-tax income | $110.3M | $83.1M | $90.6M | $68.6M | $64.6M | $36.8M | $29.9M | $17.4M | $9.0M | $6.7M |
| Income tax | $22.4M | $17.9M | $19.5M | $14.3M | $12.4M | $6.8M | $6.1M | $3.3M | $4.1M | $1.6M |
| Net income | $87.9M | $65.1M | $71.0M | $54.3M | $52.1M | $30.0M | $23.8M | $14.1M | $4.8M | $5.1M |
| EPS, basic | 2.81 | 2.27 | 2.62 | 2.34 | 2.54 | 1.65 | 1.79 | 1.27 | 0.63 | 0.73 |
| EPS, diluted | 2.79 | 2.26 | 2.59 | 2.32 | 2.53 | 1.64 | 1.74 | 1.22 | 0.61 | 0.70 |
| Shares, diluted (wtd. avg.) | $29.5M | $26.5M | $25.3M | $22.8M | $20.6M | $18.2M | $13.7M | $11.5M | $8.0M | $7.3M |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 | FY2019 | FY2018 | FY2017 | FY2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and equivalents | $411.2M | $319.1M | $226.1M | $152.7M | $68.4M | $149.1M | $89.4M | $96.1M | $107.6M | $42.2M |
| Property, plant and equipment | $74.0M | $82.0M | $69.5M | $63.2M | $58.2M | $58.6M | $29.3M | $15.1M | $8.8M | $9.3M |
| Goodwill | $121.1M | $121.6M | $88.4M | $88.5M | $59.9M | $53.9M | $48.5M | $49.5M | $6.8M | $6.8M |
| Other intangibles | $14.5M | $17.3M | $11.9M | $14.0M | $12.2M | $9.7M | $6.7M | $7.9M | $2.0M | $2.3M |
| Total assets | $8.21B | $7.86B | $6.58B | $5.99B | $4.73B | $4.16B | $2.27B | $2.09B | $1.32B | $1.11B |
| Short-term debt | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $862.0K | $862.0K |
| Long-term debt | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | $2.7M | $3.0M |
| Total liabilities | $7.32B | $7.06B | $5.94B | $5.41B | $4.29B | $3.75B | $1.99B | $1.83B | $1.14B | $992.3M |
| Retained earnings | $326.6M | $261.0M | $216.1M | $164.0M | $121.9M | $79.2M | $56.7M | $38.0M | $27.2M | $23.8M |
| Total equity | $896.9M | $799.5M | $644.3M | $580.5M | $433.4M | $410.0M | $285.1M | $260.1M | $179.9M | $113.6M |
Cash flow
| Fiscal year | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 | FY2019 | FY2018 | FY2017 | FY2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $92.1M | $61.4M | $91.0M | $69.6M | $56.4M | $29.3M | $24.4M | $19.3M | $8.0M | $8.2M |
| Stock-based compensation | $5.8M | $3.0M | $4.0M | $3.7M | $2.9M | $2.5M | $1.1M | $1.0M | -$59.0K | $456.0K |
| Capital expenditure | $66.0K | $1.6M | $11.6M | $7.8M | $4.0M | $3.0M | $4.0M | $919.0K | $505.0K | $1.4M |
| Investing cash flow | -$281.5M | -$294.9M | -$521.1M | -$700.5M | -$675.4M | -$475.3M | -$192.3M | -$170.3M | -$153.4M | -$33.3M |
| Financing cash flow | $281.5M | $326.5M | $503.5M | $715.3M | $538.2M | $505.7M | $161.2M | $139.5M | $210.9M | $26.5M |
| Dividends paid | $16.8M | $14.9M | $12.7M | $10.8M | $9.4M | $7.5M | $5.1M | $3.3M | $1.8M | $1.1M |
| Buybacks | $3.7M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $10.9M | $5.8M | $2.6M | $0 | $33.0K | $863.0K |
Figures as tagged in each year's own filing, in US dollars. A year restated by a later filing shows the restated figure. Capital expenditure, dividends and buybacks are cash out, shown positive. A line the filer does not report is not listed. Latest from accession 0001437749-26-011695.
Others in SIC 6022
| Ticker | Company | Market cap | P/E | Revenue growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNY | Bank of New York Mellon Corp | $111.84B | 22.3x | 7.8% |
| STT | STATE STREET CORP | $53.36B | 20.7x | 7.3% |
| FITB | FIFTH THIRD BANCORP | $49.76B | 15.5x | -5.0% |
| MTB | M&T BANK CORP | $34.64B | 14.1x | 7.5% |
| NTRS | NORTHERN TRUST CORP | $34.15B | 21.4x | 6.1% |
| CFG | CITIZENS FINANCIAL GROUP INC/RI | $29.81B | 18.3x | 6.7% |
| FCNCA | FIRST CITIZENS BANCSHARES INC /DE/ | $25.48B | 13.4x | -2.2% |
| EWBC | EAST WEST BANCORP INC | $17.92B | 13.7x | 2.4% |