Wisconsin banks start year on a good note as first-quarter profits rise 5.7%
Paul Gores
First-quarter profits rose 5.7% for Wisconsin-based banks as lending increased and there were fewer delinquent loans on the books.
A report Wednesday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. shows the 221 banks headquartered in the state had total net income of $280.2 million in the first quarter of 2017, compared with $265 million in last year's first period.
Total loans and leases climbed 2.8%, to $77.1 billion from almost $74.9 billion.
The amount of noncurrent loans and leases fell to 1.04% of total loans and leases from 1.22% at the end of last year's first quarter in Wisconsin.
During the first quarter, state banks added a total of $22.9 million to loan-loss reserves, down from the $35.1 million added in the first quarter of 2016. Adding money to loan-loss reserves cuts directly into the profit of banks.
“Wisconsin’s banks continued their tradition of steady growth in the first quarter of 2017, according to the latest FDIC quarterly numbers," said Rose Oswald Poels, president and chief executive of the Wisconsin Bankers Association. "Helping that growth, farm loans and deposits both grew, by 12.2% and 1.97%, respectively."
The percentage increase in Wisconsin bank earnings trailed the 12.7% jump in profits overall for banks in the United States.
According to the FDIC, the nation's commercial banks and savings institutions posted net income of $44 billion in the first quarter of 2017, up $5 billion from 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,” Martin J. Gruenberg, chairman of the FDIC, said in a statement.
Nationally, 4.1% of 5,856 banks were unprofitable in the first quarter. In Wisconsin, only three banks lost money in the period: The Equitable Bank, of Wauwatosa, lost $246,000; Middleton Community Bank, $148,000; and Madison's Home Savings Bank, $104,000.
The non-specialty Wisconsin banks with the highest net income in the first quarter were: Associated Bank, of Green Bay, $59.1 million; Racine's Johnson Bank, $8.1 million; WaterStone Bank, of Wauwatosa, $6.5 million; Green Bay's Nicolet National Bank, $6.4 million; and Fond du Lac's National Exchange Bank & Trust, $6.2 million.