BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Business First Bancshares, Inc. (BFST) on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings of $19.7 million.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based bank said it had earnings of 73 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring gains, were 70 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 52 cents per share.

The company posted revenue of $97.8 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $65.3 million, also topping Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $60.3 million.

Business First shares have decreased 23% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $17, a drop of 25% in the last 12 months.

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