HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) _ The First Bancshares Inc. (FBMS) on Monday reported third-quarter earnings of $11.9 million.

The Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based bank said it had earnings of 55 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for costs related to mergers and acquisitions, were 56 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 54 cents per share.

The bank holding company posted revenue of $55.1 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $48.8 million, also topping Street forecasts.

The First Bancshares shares have decreased 31% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $24.37, a fall of 25% 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 FBMS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/FBMS

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