By Sarah Borchersen-Keto, CCH Washington News Bureau, Contributing Author, the CCH Federal Banking Law Reporter and Bank Digest.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured banks earned $35.3 billion in net income for the first quarter of 2012, the highest level seen since the second quarter of 2007, and the eleventh consecutive year-over-year quarterly improvement. Loan balances, however, fell for the first time in four quarters.
First quarter net income rose 22.9 percent from the year-earlier period, as the average return on assets rose above the one percent level for only the second time since the second quarter of 2007. Over two thirds of all banks reported an improvement in their quarterly earnings, with only 10.3 percent unprofitable in the first quarter.
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