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Click on individual bank names in the table below to access American Banker's coverage of each company's earnings report. Links to relevant coverage, filings, releases, and bank benchmark profile data can be found in the Related Links area of each article.
April 24
Comerica Inc.'s (CMA) first-quarter earnings rose 26% as the financial-services company posted loan growth and a sharp decrease in loan-loss provisions.
Chief Executive Ralph W. Babb Jr. said credit quality continued to improve in the first quarter. Net-charge offs, or loans the company doesn't think are collectible, were at the lowest level since the third quarter of 2007, falling to 43% of average loans from 103% a year earlier and 57% in the prior quarter.
The regional bank, which is mostly a commercial lender, has seen its earnings mostly improve over the past year as it sets aside less money for potential loan losses and makes more loans. Comerica last year acquired Sterling Bancshares Inc. in a bid to grow its business in booming Texas.
The company said last month it would buy back stock and intended to increase its dividend as a sign of its good health.
Still, the bank struggles with low interest rates, and Moody's Investors Service recently downgraded the company's senior debt rating, saying its profit potential is constrained by costs.
Comerica reported a profit of $130 million, up from $103 million in the year-earlier period. On a per-share basis, earnings rose to 66 cents from 57 cents. The year-earlier period included 12 cents in restructuring and acquisition charges.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 55 cents a share.
The company saw sequential total loan growth of 1% on a period-end basis, driven by a 3% increase in commercial loans.
Loan-loss provisions fell to $23 million from $49 million a year earlier. In the fourth quarter, loan-loss provisions were $19 million.
