BB&T's (BBT) second-quarter earnings soared as the Winston-Salem, N.C., company reported strong improvement in lending, noninterest income and credit quality.
Net income available to shareholders was $510 million, up 66% from a year earlier and 15% from the first quarter. The results include dividends paid on preferred stock.
Revenue rose 13% from a year earlier and 5% from the first quarter, to $2.5 billion.
"We are excited to report the strongest net income for any quarter in our history," Kelly King, the $176 billion-asset company's chairman and chief executive, said in a press release.
Net interest income rose 8% from a year earlier and 2% from the first quarter, to $1.46 billion. The loan portfolio grew 8% from a year earlier, to $112 billion, overcoming 20 basis points of net interest margin contraction over that period. The margin was 3.95% in the second quarter.
Consumer lending took off, with the company reporting a large increase in residential mortgages, which rose 21% from a year earlier, and direct retail loans, which rose by 10%. Commercial and industrial loans increased by 8% from a year earlier.
Noninterest income rose 22% from a year earlier and 11% from the first quarter, to $966 million, which reflected higher mortgage and insurance results. Noninterest expenses rose just 2% from a year earlier and 3% from the first quarter, to $1.4 billion.
Credit quality also improved. The loan-loss provision fell 17% from a year earlier and 5% from the first quarter, to $273 million. Net chargeoffs fell 4% from a year earlier and 24% from the first quarter, to $337 million. Nonperforming assets fell 43% from a year earlier and 16% from the first quarter, to $1.9 billion.
