Profits jumped 116% for N.C. banks in 2012; dividends up 202%
BB&T was part of the North Carolina bank cluster that posted healthy margins in 2012.
- Lee Weisbecker[1]
- Staff Writer- Triangle Business Journal
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Twitter[3]
Profits jumped by 116 percent and dividends paid out to investors increased by 202 percent at 84 state-chartered banks in 2012 in what’s being described as a “generally favorable year” for the industry.
The characterization is by acting North Carolina Banking Commissioner Ray Grace[4] in a just released[5] 2012 annual report.
Most of the banks on the list are smaller community banks, but the tally also includes the likes of Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corp.[6] (NYSE: BBT), Raleigh-based First Citizens BancShares (Nasdaq: FCNCA) and Troy-based First Bancorp[7] (Nasdaq: FBNC).
Until March 2012, the state-charted list also included Raleigh-based RBC Bank[8] (NYSE: RY) USA, whose year-ago acquisition by PNC Financial Services of Pittsbugh (NYSE: PNC) worked to cut the total assets figure at state banks by 7 percent to $237 billion last year.
Meanwhile, says Grace, four banks experienced asset growth of 30 percent or higher. They were The Fidelity Bank[9] in Fuquay Varina, Raleigh based VantageSouth and Carolina Premier Bank and Park Sterling Bank (Nasdaq: PSTB), both in Charlotte.
Only one bank, Waccamaw Bank in Whiteville, failed.
“Although economic challenges continued in 2012,” says Grace, “North Carolina state chartered banks and savings institutions showed signs of improvement and experienced a generally favorable year.”
Profits at the banks rose to $2.08 billion last year, up from $961 million in 2011. The percent of unprofitable banks on the state-charted list was 20.3 percent last year, down from 35 percent in 2011.
As profitability improved, so to did dividends paid to investors of bank stock. The payouts jumped to $1.8 billion, up from $595 million in 2011.
Lee Weisbecker covers Finance, State Government.
References
- ^ Lee Weisbecker (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ Ray Grace (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ just released (www.nccob.gov)
- ^ BB&T Corp. (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ First Bancorp (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ RBC Bank (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ The Fidelity Bank (www.bizjournals.com)