Business First Bancshares Inc. of Baton Rouge, La., has applied to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
It expects its stock to trade on the exchange in April under the ticker symbol BFST. A Nasdaq listing will give it additional liquidity for "opportunities in the community banking landscape," including acquisitions.
Business First closed its acquisition of Minden Bancorp Inc. in January. In a February letter to shareholders, CEO David Melville III said the company's fourth-quarter 2017 net income had been impacted by a $2.2 million loan loss provision related to two impaired relationships, as well as a $1.7 million decrease in the value of its deferred tax assets. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2017, it recorded a net loss of $862,000, compared with the year-ago period's net income of $1.5 million.
Business First is a bank holding company with $1.32 billion in assets at the end of 2017.
