Despite posting a drop in revenue, First Horizon National
A look at the numbers
Revenue for the quarter fell to $361.6 million from $426.0 million, down 15% from a year ago. Bad economic conditions resulted in a fall in demand for loans, which led to a drop in revenue, particularly in mortgage banking.
However, net income available to common shareholders stood at $42.6 million, an improvement over last year’s $2.7 million, which was a result of an unusually high preferred stock dividend payment. During the second quarter last year, First Horizon paid out $14.9 million as dividend payment to the Treasury for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The TARP payment resulted in lower net income.
The positive performance, despite the fall in revenue, was also due to the company’s improving credit quality. First Horizon also gained from a fall in its loan-loss provisions, which fell to a negligible $1 million from $70 million a year ago.
A positive trend
Generally speaking, the banking scenario in the U.S. seems to be continually improving. This is evident from the fact that bigger regional banks such as PNC Financial
Keeping provisions
As fellow Fool Zeeshan Siddique mentioned in an earlier article, falling loan provisions are a powerful trend in the banking industry, helping American banks get back to full flow. Banks across America now believe that they will suffer fewer defaults on loans in the future.
Regional banks such as Flagstar Bancorp
The Foolish bottom line
First Horizon performed well in a sector that’s showing signs of improvement every day. It is looking to focus on boosting profitability and earnings in the long run as it expands In addition, the bank is looking at mergers to help fuel growth and to return value to shareholders through stock buybacks and an increase in dividends.
As the U.S. banking sector improves, these efforts should help the company grow and see improvements in its bottom line. First Horizon is a company to watch out for.