F.D.I.C. Gives a Mixed Report on Banks in Quarter.

F.D.I.C. Gives a Mixed Report on Banks in Quarter.
By ERIC DASH
Copyright by Reuters
Published: August 31, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/business/economy/01bank.html?_r=1&hp


The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation quarterly report card released Tuesday reflected a banking sector that posted a record profit even as the number of troubled banks continued to rise.

F.D.I.C officials said the list of “problem banks” reached 829 in the second quarter, adding 54 troubled lenders, many of which were small community banks. While that is a smaller increase than in previous quarters, the number of problem banks remains at its highest level in more than 16 years.Not all of those banks are destined to founder, but officials reiterated that they expected the number of failures to peak later this year. So far this year, 118 banks have failed, with 45 closing in the second quarter.

Even so, bank earnings continue to rebound. The banking industry posted a $21.6 billion profit in the scond quarter amid signs that loan losses are stabilizing, the F.D.I.C. reported. That profit was nearly five times larger than the $4.4 billion a year ago, and it was the industry’s best results since the credit card crisis began in the third quarter in 2007. The banks are also setting aside less money to cover future losses than they were before and taking advantage of ultra-low interest rates to improve lending margins.

Fewer borrowers are also falling behind on their loan payments. Across nearly every category, troubled loans started falling for the first time in more than four years. The sole exception was commercial real estate loans, which continued to show signs of weakness.

“The industry has stopped the bleeding, but has not recovered from the wounds,” said Jaret Seiberg, a financial policy analyst in a research note on Tuesday morning. Those glimmers of stability have attracted private investors, who believe they finally have a handle on the depth of the banks’ problems. Investment bankers, meanwhile, are setting their sights on a flurry of small bank deals in 2011.

Still, the nation’s 7,830 banks remain under pressure. The F.D.I.C.’s quarterly report hinted at early signs of strain from the new financial reform regulations as bank cut back on fee income ahead of the new legislation. Fees attached to deposits accounts, for example, was $752 million, about 7.1 percent lower than a year earlier. Lending, meanwhile, showed signs of continued weakness. Total assets for the banking industry fell about 1 percent, amid declines in every major lending category. Although other government reports suggest that banks may be starting to loosen some of their lending standards, a lingering unemployment rate and general nervousness about the economy has crippled demand for new loans. Commercial real estate loan balances fell 8.3 percent, while credit card balances declined by about 2.5 percent in the second quarter.

Sheila C. Bair, the F.D.I.C. chairwoman, warned that the recovery of the banking industry could be hampered by protracted weakness in the economy.

“Without question, the industry still faces challenges,” she said in a news statement. But the banking sector is gaining strength. Earnings have grown, and most asset quality indicators are moving in the right direction.”

The agency expects a “recovery, sluggish and slow,” Ms. Bair said.

With so many banks failing, the deposit insurance fund has been severely depleted. At the end of June, it carried a negative balance of $15.2 billion. The insurance fund is in better shape than such numbers might suggest, however.

Officials have estimated that bank failures would drain about $100 billion from the fund from 2009 through 2013. But of that amount, a total of roughly $80 billion in losses were recognized last year or projected for 2010. By that math, the agency is expecting an additional $20 billion of losses over the next three years.

F.D.I.C. officials said they hoped to recoup those costs through higher premium fees and a special assessment imposed last September. Still, Ms. Bair said the agency had ample resources.

“As we expected, demands on cash have increased this year,” she said. “But our projections indicate that our current resources are more than enough to resolve anticipated failures.”