Marshall & Ilsley
The quarter in detail
Despite a decline in provision for loans and lease losses, M&I's net loss widened to $142 million for the quarter, slightly higher than the first quarter of 2010. This was primarily because of a decline in the company's revenues. Net interest income for the quarter declined by almost 14% to $352.1 million while non-interest revenues dropped by 16% to $186.5 million, compared to the year-ago period. And although provisions to cover bad loans decreased to $418.8 million from $458.1 million a year ago, it's still a sizable amount.
Loans and leases also reduced 16% to $36.4 billion while average deposits were down by 10% to $37.9 billion, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2010. But the quarter witnessed some significant steps up, which tend to compensate for the gloomy depiction, if not offset it.
The positives
Much like regional banks such as BankAtlantic Bancorp
The Foolish bottom line
Improving credit quality is definitely an encouraging signal for M&I and as CEO Mark Furlong puts it, the "results reflect the continued stabilization" of the company, which agreed in December to an acquisition offer from Bank of Montreal
Despite these improvements, successive losses and declining loans and deposits make me wary of this company from an investment standpoint. What say you, Fools?