The Bank of Queensland Limited (ASX: BOQ) share price has gained a whopping 61% over the past 12 months.
And no wonder. After finding itself on the wrong foot in late 2020, the regional bank has released a barrage of good news.
Right now, the Bank of Queensland share price is $9.20. Exactly 12 months ago it was sitting at just $5.71.
Let's take a look at what's been driving the bank's shares lately.
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The year that's been for the Bank of Queensland
The Bank of Queensland was relatively quiet this time last year.
In fact, the only news the bank released between July 2020 and September 2020 was of extra expenses to be added to its 2020 financial year results.
Some of those expenses included an $11 million expense brought about due to underpayment of staff. The bank came across the underpayments in an internal review and vowed to repay any discrepancies.
Additionally, it reported it expected its loan impairment expense for the financial year to be $175 million. The Bank of Queensland share price fell 7.2% on the back of the news.
Then, the bank released its results for the 2020 financial year in October.
While it didn't do as well as the prior financial year, it managed to scrape in a $115 million net profit after tax. The bank's shares increased by 5.1% following its results.
But the big news from the Bank of Queensland over the past 12 months has to be its acquisition of Members Equity Bank (ME Bank).
The acquisition was first announced in February, when the Bank of Queensland announced it was undergoing a $1.35 billion capital raise to cover the cost of the acquisition.
Bank of Queensland's shares were frozen on 18 February as the bank readied itself to break the news. The Bank of Queensland share price gained 12.7% when trading was reinstated on the 23 February.
ME Bank was, unfortunately, accused by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) of breaching 2 sections of the Credit Act in March.
Finally, the acquisition was officially finalised on 1 July.
Bank of Queensland share price snapshot
It likely comes as no surprise the Bank of Queensland share price has been doing well recently.
It has gained 21% since the start of 2021, and is up 2.3% over the last month. At the time of writing, shares are swapping hands for $9.20 apiece, up 0.22% on the previous closing price.
