Don't you just love overly promotional managements? Take a look at Regions Financial's (NYSE:RF) earnings release today, and you'll find it littered with phrases like "excellent momentum" and "good merger preparation progress." Oh, and let's not forget the obligatory "record profits" nonsense as well.
Heck, you'd almost forget that the stock is down for the year, hasn't gone anywhere in ages, and hasn't sniffed its all-time highs from the late '90s in quite a while. Funny how management didn't put that in. So let's just be clear from the outset that we're not talking about a U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) or Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) here.
My disdain for management puffery aside, there were definitely some positives in this quarter. Revenue rose more than 9%, and reported net income jumped 39% -- lifting metrics like return on assets and equity by a considerable amount. Net interest income rose 10%, while non-interest income fell 4%. Though the average balance amounts of earning assets was all but unchanged from a year ago, the gain in the company's yield on loans outpaced the rising cost of their deposits, and the net interest margin rose 39 basis points.
The balance sheet is not such a pretty picture. Average loan balances were flat, and average deposit balances were down 1%. It's also worth noting that Regions still uses a lot of expensive brokered deposits in its funding base. All that said, I do like the spread in the company's loan portfolio (a good mix between commercial and residential), and credit quality measures are moving in the proper direction.
Here's hoping that the merger with AmSouth (NYSE:ASO) and the resulting changes in management will lead to less puffery and more performance. I don't see the shares as a bargain, and I really am not impressed with today's management, but I'm always willing to reconsider a company's prospects if it's committed to change. In the meantime, there are just too many other interesting banks for me to take a flier on Regions Financial today.
For more bankable Foolishness:
- AmSouth and Regions' Mediocre Merger
- Small Banks Need Love, Too: Capital Corp. of the West
- The Secret of Dividends
U.S. Bancorp is an Motley Fool Income Investor recommendation. To discover more promising stocks with dynamic dividends, sign up today for a free 30-day guest pass .
Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
