- North Carolina
First Citizens Bancshares Inc. is one of the more peculiar success stories — and for that reason, its small band of followers say, worthy of imitation by struggling peers in need of fresh ideas.
August 3
First Citizens BancShares Inc. in Raleigh, N.C., reported only modest earnings growth in 2011 as income gains from failed-bank acquisitions were largely offset by higher loss provisions related to loans it inherited in those deals.
The $21 billion-asset parent of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 1.5% from the same period in 2010, to $30.5 million, and that full-year earnings rose 1%, to $195 million. The income gains were largely a result of increased loan volume stemming from its acquisitions of two failed banks in Colorado last year that combined added more than $3 billion of assets. Net interest income climbed 6.1% for the quarter, to, $242 million, and 12.5% for the full year, to $871 million.
However, the deals also increased First Citizens' level of problem loans, which forced it to boost its loan-loss provision for the year by 61% from the prior year, to $232 million. The company also said that problem loans not covered by loss-sharing agreements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. rose 15%, to nearly $227 million.
First Citizens has been an active consolidator in recent years, acquiring six failed banks and folded its