Put one post-hurricane quarter in the books for Income Investor selection AmSouth
For the quarter, the company turned in diluted earnings per share growth of $0.51, for 6.3% growth over last year's $0.48 per share (excluding one-time charges). Granted, 6.3% growth isn't terribly impressive, but this company is navigating a very tough business environment. It posted a return on equity of 20% and a return on assets of 1.4%, both of which pale slightly against the two preceding quarters. AmSouth also remains a fairly lean operator, with an efficiency ratio of 52.2% (lower is better), a little bit worse than last quarter.
Net interest margin declined a bit, but that isn't unexpected with a tightening yield curve -- just askFifth Third
The final piece of news is that AmSouth saw its deposits grow by more than 10% versus last year and 1% versus last quarter. The 1% growth last quarter isn't much, and the company will need to find ways to keep that growth going, but given the hurricane damage that customers suffered in its service areas, it's a slight plus that deposit growth wasn't negative.
The next few quarters and years will be interesting for AmSouth, Regions Financial
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Nathan Parmelee has no financial stake in any of the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has an ironclad disclosure policy.