CONWAY, Ark. (AP) _ Home BancShares Inc. (HOMB) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profit of $73.4 million.

The bank, based in Conway, Arkansas, said it had earnings of 45 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 42 cents per share.

The bank holding company posted revenue of $182.9 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $171 million, which also topped Street forecasts.

For the year, the company reported profit of $319 million, or $1.94 per share. Revenue was reported as $710.5 million.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HOMB at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HOMB

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