EXHIBIT 99.1

Home BancShares, Inc. Announces Net Income of $17.6 Million for 2010

CONWAY, Ark., Jan. 20, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Home BancShares, Inc. (Nasdaq:HOMB), parent company of Centennial Bank, today announced net income for the year ended December 31, 2010 of $17.6 million compared to $26.8 million for the year ended 2009. Diluted earnings per share for the year ended 2010 were $0.52, compared to $1.02 for 2009.

For the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company recorded a net loss of $13.8 million, or $0.51 diluted loss per share compared to net income of $7.9 million, or $0.25 diluted earnings per share for the same period in 2009.

Because acquisitions are a growth and a capital management strategy, cash earnings (net income excluding amortization of intangibles after-tax) are useful in evaluating the Company. Cash diluted loss per share for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $0.49 compared to $0.26 diluted earnings per share for the same period in 2009.

During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company experienced several financial items that it pre-announced on January 3, 2010. Among these items include $25.2 million in pre-tax bargain purchase gains from two FDIC-assisted acquisitions, a $53.4 million charge for impairment to certain loans which resulted in the Company recording a fourth quarter of 2010 provision for loan losses of $63.0 million, a $3.6 million charge to investment securities as a result of an apparent fraud on bonds sold in Arkansas and $2.2 million of merger expenses from our two fourth quarter FDIC-assisted acquisitions. The combined financial impact of these items to the Company on an after-tax basis is a loss of $26.5 million or $0.93 diluted loss per share.

"Due to our conservative stance, we have maintained strong capital and reserves for difficult times like these. Our sound balance sheet affords us the ability to take these charge-offs and provisions without raising additional capital," said John Allison, Chairman. "We have remained extremely well capitalized through the years. Even after these charge-offs and provisions, we will continue to have capital levels considerably above the capital requirement of our regulators."

"While we are displeased with the recent credit quality issues, we are optimistic of the improvements in base earnings our Company is continuing to accumulate," said Randy Sims, Chief Executive Officer. "We are expecting the FDIC-assisted acquisitions completed during 2010 will continue to provide progress in our base earnings into future periods. We are pleased with the $0.49 diluted earnings per share bargain purchase gain on the two acquisitions completed during the fourth quarter. This positive improvement is just one of the benefits of our acquisition strategy with the long-standing goal of sustained growth in earnings." 

Operating Highlights

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2010 was a quarterly record for the Company, increasing 38.5% to $33.4 million compared to $24.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Net interest margin, on a fully taxable equivalent basis, was 4.19% in the quarter just ended compared to 4.14% in the fourth quarter of 2009, an increase of 5 basis points. During 2010, the Company has been able to improve pricing on its deposits and minimize the decline of interest rates on earning assets allowing the Company to improve net interest margin. During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company reversed approximately $745,000 of interest income related to accrued interest on the loans charged-off and the fraudulent bonds. This reversal reduced the Company's fourth quarter net interest margin by 10 basis points.  

The Company reported $31.9 million of non-interest income for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $7.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. The most significant components of the fourth quarter non-interest income were $25.2 million bargain purchase gains, $3.3 million from service charges on deposits accounts, $2.0 million from other service charges and fees, $1.9 million of accretion on the FDIC indemnification asset, $1.3 million from mortgage lending income, $358,000 gain on sale of OREO and $277,000 increase in cash value of life insurance offset by the $3.6 million loss on fraudulent securities. Excluding the bargain purchase gains and loss on securities, non-interest income for the fourth quarter of 2010 increased 36.9% from the fourth quarter of 2009.

Non-interest expense for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $26.2 million compared to $16.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. This increase is primary the result of increasing the asset size of our Company by 40.1% during 2010 plus the merger expenses associated with the acquisitions. Our efficiency ratio improved 10.1 points to 38.3% for the fourth quarter of 2010 from the 48.4% reported in the fourth quarter of 2009.  This improvement is primarily associated with the bargain purchase gains during the fourth quarter offset by additional costs associated with our acquisitions during 2010.

Financial Condition

Total non-covered loans were $1.89 billion at December 31, 2010 compared to $1.95 billion at December 31, 2009.  Total deposits were $2.96 billion at December 31, 2010 compared to $1.84 billion at December 31, 2009. Total assets were $3.76 billion at December 31, 2010 compared to $2.68 billion at December 31, 2009.

Non-performing non-covered loans were $49.5 million as of December 31, 2010, of which $26.1 million were located in Florida. Non-performing non-covered loans as a percent of total non-covered loans were 2.62% as of December 31, 2010 compared to 2.05% as of December 31, 2009. Non-performing non-covered assets were $61.2 million as of December 31, 2010, of which $32.5 million were located in Florida. Non-performing non-covered assets as a percent of total non-covered assets were 2.08% as of December 31, 2010 compared to the 2.12% reported for December 31, 2009. 

The Company's allowance for loan losses was $53.3 million at December 31, 2010, or 2.83% of total non-covered loans, compared to $43.0 million, or 2.20% of total non-covered loans, at December 31, 2009. As of December 31, 2010, the Company's allowance for loan losses was 108% of its total non-performing non-covered loans equal to the 108% as of December 31, 2009.

Stockholders' equity was $476.9 million at December 31, 2010 compared to $465.0 million at December 31, 2009, an increase of $11.9 million. Book value per common share was $15.02 at December 31, 2010 compared to $14.71 at December 31, 2009.

New Branches

During 2010, Centennial Bank entered into six loss sharing agreements with the FDIC. Through these six transactions, the Company has added a total of thirty-six branch locations in Florida. These branch locations include one in the Florida Keys, six in the Greater Orlando MSA, and twenty-nine in the Florida Panhandle, which contains seven locations in the Panama City MSA and ten locations in the Tallahassee MSA. The Company is currently evaluating the branch locations acquired from the FDIC. Although the Company plans to keep most of the acquired branches, final determinations are still in progress.  The Company anticipates five to six strategic branch closures to occur during the first part of 2011. Presently, the Company is evaluating additional opportunities but has no firm commitments for any additional de novo branch locations.

Conference Call

Management will conduct a conference call to review this information at 1:00 p.m. CT (2:00 ET) on Thursday, January 20, 2010. Interested parties can listen to this call by calling 1-877-317-6789 and asking for the Home BancShares conference call. A replay of the call will be available by calling 1-877-344-7529, Passcode: 447013, which will be available until January 28, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. CT (9:00 ET). Internet access to the call will be available live or in recorded version on the Company's website at www.homebancshares.com under "Investor Relations" for 12 months.

General

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding the Company's plans, expectations, goals and outlook for the future. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements of this type speak only as of the date of this news release. By nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties. Various factors, including, but not limited to, economic conditions, credit quality, interest rates, loan demand, estimates regarding impairment charges, the ability to recover some portion of the impaired indebtedness and changes in the assumptions used in making the forward-looking statements, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Additional information on factors that might affect Home BancShares, Inc.'s financial results are included in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, and in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2010, June 30, 2010 and September 30, 2010 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Home BancShares, Inc. is a bank holding company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. Our wholly-owned subsidiary Centennial Bank provides a broad range of commercial and retail banking plus related financial services to businesses, real estate developers, investors, individuals and municipalities. Centennial Bank has locations in central Arkansas, north central Arkansas, southern Arkansas, the Florida Keys, southwestern Florida, central Florida, and the Florida Panhandle. The Company's common stock is traded through the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "HOMB."

CONTACT: Brian S. Davis
         Chief Accounting Officer &
         Investor Relations Officer
         Home BancShares, Inc.
         (501) 328-4770