Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported aggregate net income of $44 billion in the first quarter of 2017, up $5 billion (12.7 percent) from a year earlier.
The jump was mostly due to an $8.8 billion (7.8 percent) increase in net interest income and a $2.1 billion (3.4 percent) increase in noninterest income, according to the FDIC’s latest Quarterly Banking Profile.
Of the 5,856 insured institutions reporting first quarter financial results, 57 percent reported year-over-year growth in quarterly earnings. The proportion of banks that were unprofitable in the first quarter fell to 4.1 percent from 5.1 percent a year earlier.
“Revenue and net income growth were strong, asset quality improved, and the number of unprofitable banks and ‘problem banks’ continued to fall,” FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg said. “Community banks reported another quarter of solid revenue and net income growth.”
Community bank net income rose 10.4 percent from a year ago. Net operating revenue was $1.5 billion (7 percent) higher, as net interest income was up $1.2 billion (7.1 percent), and noninterest income rose by $304.4 million (6.8 percent).
Total loan and lease balances increased $358.1 billion (4 percent) during the 12 months ended March 31, compared with a 5.3 percent growth rate over the 12 months ending in March 2016. The slowdown in loan growth occurred across all major loan categories. During the first three months of 2017, total loan balances declined by $8.1 billion (0.1 percent) from the fourth quarter, as borrowers reduced their credit card balances by $43.7 billion (5.5 percent). Community banks increased their loan balances by $16.7 billion (1.1 percent) during the quarter and by $109.9 billion (7.7 percent) over the past 12 months.
“In the past two quarters, the industry has seen a slowdown in loan growth that is broad-based across major lending categories. This slowdown has occurred as the economy approaches the end of the eighth year of a relatively modest expansion. Still, loan growth has remained at or above nominal GDP growth,” Gruenberg said.
The profile also reported that the number of banks on the FDIC’s Problem Bank List fell from 123 to 112 during the first quarter. This is the smallest number of problem banks since March 31, 2008, and is down significantly from the post-crisis peak of 888 in the first quarter of 2011. Total assets of problem banks fell from $27.6 billion to $23.7 billion during the first quarter.