Bank profits rose in the first quarter, reaching their highest quarterly income levels since the second quarter of 2007, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) quarterly banking report released today.
Bank net income for the first quarter of 2012 was $35.3 billion, up by $6.6 billion from the first quarter of 2011.
Meanwhile, bank revenues – driven partly by gains on loan sales – increased for only the second time in the past five quarters. Banks’ net operating revenue increased by $5 billion year-over-year.
The FDIC said that once again lower provisions for loan losses contributed to earnings improvements.
Meanwhile, the number of banks on the FDIC’s “problem list” fell to 772 from 813 during the first quarter of 2012, and the assets of problem institutions fell to $292 billion from $319 billion.
In Wisconsin, 271 FDIC-insured institutions reported net income of $205 million, up from $31 million in 2011. Total assets statewide were $96.7 billion for the quarter, down from $145 billion in the same period last year.
About one in 12 of the reporting institutions was unprofitable, compared to one in about eight banks in first quarter of 2011. More than 68 percent reported earnings gains, compared to about 59 percent in the same period a year ago.
