Note 14 - Shareholders' Equity and Regulatory Matters -

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Regulatory Capital Requirements under Banking Regulations [Text Block]

Note

1

4

– S

hare

holders’ Equity and Regulatory Matters –

On

October 12, 2017,

the Company completed a private placement offering of

3,299,925

shares of its common stock at a price of

$20.00

per share. The private placement offering generated net proceeds of

$62.5

million. Total shareholders’ equity was

$179.9

million at

December 31, 2017,

compared to

$113.6

million at

December 31, 2016.

S

hareholders’ Equity of the Company includes the undistributed earnings of the Bank. The Company pays dividends from its assets, which are provided primarily by dividends from the Bank. Certain restrictions exist regarding the ability of the Bank to pay cash distributions. Louisiana statutes require approval to pay distributions in excess of a bank’s earnings in the current year plus retained net profits for the preceding year. The Company paid quarterly common stock dividends totaling

$0.23

per share and

$0.15

per share for the years ended

December 31, 2017

and

2016,

respectively, based upon quarterly financial performance.

The Company and the Bank are subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by federal and state banking agencies.

Failure to meet minimum regulatory capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory, and possible additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material effect on the Company’s and the Bank’s financial statements.

Under the regulatory capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, the Company and the Bank must meet specific capital guidelines involving quantitative measures of assets, liabilities and certain off-balance-sh

eet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classification under the prompt corrective action guidelines are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors. Prompt corrective action provisions are

not

applicable to bank holding companies.

Quantitative measures established by regulation

to ensure capital adequacy require the Company and the Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios. As detailed below, as of

December 31, 2017

and

2016,

the Bank met all of the capital adequacy requirements to which it is subject.

As of

December 31,

201

7

and

2016,

the Bank was categorized as well capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. To maintain categorized as well capitalized, the Bank will have to maintain minimum total capital, Tier I capital, risk-based common equity Tier I, and Tier I leverage ratios as disclosed in the table below. There are

no

conditions or events since the most recent notification that management believes have changed the prompt corrective action category.

The following is a summary of the

Company’s (consolidated) and the Bank’s actual capital amounts and ratios at

December 31, 2017

and

2016.

											To Be Wel l
											Capitalized Unde r
						For Capita l					Prompt Correctiv e
Business First Bancshares, Inc. (Consolidated )	Actua l					Adequacy Purpose s					Action Provision s
	Amoun t		Rati o			Amoun t		Rati o			Amoun t		Rati o
	(Dollars in thousands )
December 31, 2017 :
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	181,565		15.23	%	$	95,387		8.00	%	$	119,234		10.00	%
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	172,800		14.49	%	$	71,541		6.00	%	$	95,387		8.00	%
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	172,800		14.49	%	$	53,655		4.50	%	$	77,502		6.50	%
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets )	$	172,800		13.53	%	$	51,089		4.00	%	$	63,862		5.00	%
December 31, 2016 :
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	115,437		11.63	%	$	79,422		8.00	%	$	99,277		10.00	%
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	107,275		10.81	%	$	59,566		6.00	%	$	79,422		8.00	%
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	107,275		10.81	%	$	44,675		4.50	%	$	64,530		6.50	%
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets )	$	107,275		9.67	%	$	44,358		4.00	%	$	55,447		5.00	%

											To Be Wel l
											Capitalized Unde r
						For Capita l					Prompt Correctiv e
Business First Ban k	Actua l					Adequacy Purpose s					Action Provision s
	Amoun t		Rati o			Amoun t		Rati o			Amoun t		Rati o
	(Dollars in thousands )
December 31, 2017 :
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	120,806		10.24	%	$	94,377		8.00	%	$	117,971		10.00	%
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	112,041		9.50	%	$	70,783		6.00	%	$	94,377		8.00	%
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	112,041		9.50	%	$	53,087		4.50	%	$	76,681		6.50	%
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets )	$	112,041		8.78	%	$	51,040		4.00	%	$	63,800		5.00	%
December 31, 2016 :
Total Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	117,909		11.89	%	$	79,324		8.00	%	$	99,155		10.00	%
Tier I Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	109,747		11.07	%	$	59,493		6.00	%	$	79,324		8.00	%
Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to Risk-Weighted Assets )	$	109,747		11.07	%	$	44,620		4.50	%	$	64,451		6.50	%
Tier I Leveraged Capital (to Average Assets )	$	109,747		9.91	%	$	44,311		4.00	%	$	55,389		5.00	%