MEMO

Southeast Missouri State University's Office of Publications has received an award of merit from the Council for Advancement in Support Education or CASE.

The award was in print advertising for an eight-page color insert that appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, designed to inform and recruit students from the St. Louis area.

Diane Sides, assistant director of University Relations, accepted the award during a CASE conference in Kansas City.

Employees in the publications office include Sides, who served as writer and editor of the publication; Wade Walker, graphic designer; Michael Grace, photographer; and Kathleen Butler, office secretary and proofreader.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. has announced earnings of $96.1 million for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, an increase of 10.6 percent from the $86.9 million in 1993.

Per-share earnings were $2.85 for 1994, up 9.2 percent from the $2.61 for 1993. Return on assets for the year was 1.21 percent.

Net income for the three months ending Dec. 31 was $24.3 million, up 5.3 percent from the $23.1 million for the same period of 1993. Per-share earnings for the final quarter were 72 cents compared to 68 cents in 1993, an increase of 5.9 percent.

Commerce Bancshares is a registered bank holding company operating at 180 sites in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. The company has four acquisitions pending. The transactions are with Peoples Mid-Illinois Corp. of Bloomington, Ill.; Cotton Exchange Bancshares Inc. of Kennett; Union Bancshares Inc. of Wichita, Kan.; and Chillicothe State Bancorp Inc. of Chillicothe, Ill., all one-bank holding companies.

Boatmen's Bancshares Inc., headquartered in St. Louis, announced net income of $355.3 million for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, an increase of 12 percent from the $317.4 million in 1993. Per-share earnings were $3.40 for 1994, up from the $3.07 in 1993.

Return on assets for the year was 1.29 percent, compared to 1.27 percent in 1993. Return on equity was 16.3 percent compared to 15.9 percent a year ago.

Net income for the three months ending Dec. 31 was $92 million, up 19 percent from the $77.1 million of last year. Per-share earnings for the final quarter were 88 cents compared to 75 cents in 1993.

Boatmen's Bancshares, with assets of $26.9 billion, is one of the 30 largest U.S. bank holding companies, operating at more than 400 sites in nine states.

WASHINGTON -- Housing starts jumped 12.9 percent last year to the highest level in six years despite rising mortgage rates that failed to cut appreciably into construction activity.

Construction of new single-family homes and apartments totaled 1.45 million last year, the most since 1.49 million units in 1988.

Sales of previously owned homes also jumped in 1994, by 4.3 percent, despite increased costs caused by rising mortgage rates. Sales were up in every region.

Growth in housing is tied directly to interest rates, said John A. Tuccillo, an economist with the National Association of Realtors. Tuccillo predicts the industry is headed for a "cooling-off period."

The real estate group said single-family sales in 1994 totaled 3.97 million units, up from 3.80 million in 1993 and second only to 3.98 million in 1978.

"Financial Statement Preparation and Analysis for Small Business," a seminar designed for owners and managers of small businesses, will be held at the Bootheel Education Center in Malden Feb. 6.

Drs. David A. Kunz and Gary G. Johnson, both associate professors of accounting and finance at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, will speak at the seminar.

The seminar is scheduled from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Bootheel Center, 700 N. Douglas. Cost is $35 for advance registration or $40 at the door.

The seminar is sponsored by the Small Business Development Center of Southeast Missouri State University and the Bootheel Education Center.

Additional information is available by calling (314)-290-5965.