ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) _ HomeTrust Bancshares Inc. (HTBI) on Thursday reported fiscal first-quarter profit of $5.8 million.

The Asheville, North Carolina-based bank said it had earnings of 35 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 17 cents per share.

The holding company for HomeTrust Bank posted revenue of $39.1 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $34.1 million, also beating Street forecasts.

HomeTrust Bancshares shares have decreased 44% since the beginning of the year. The stock has decreased 42% in the last 12 months.

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

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