A strong showing for Iowa banks in the first quarter
Iowa’s 309 banks reported more than $53.3 billion in loans on their books as of March 31, a 7.6 percent increase from the first quarter of 2015, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
“The quarterly performance report from the FDIC shows Iowa banks are growing and healthy,” John Sorensen, president and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association, said in a release.
Demand for real estate, farm, commercial and consumer loans increased during the quarter. Noncurrent loans were up slightly to 0.65 percent of total loans from 0.63 percent the year-ago period. Nonperforming loans declined to 0.54 percent of total loans from 0.59 percent last year.
Net interest rate margins improved slightly to 3.39 percent at the end of the first quarter, compared with 3.32 percent the year prior. Net income for Iowa banks in the first quarter was $245 million, up from $226 million last year.
Return on assets, another indicator of overall bank performance, improved to 1.23 percent from 1.19 percent and total assets were $79.9 billion, compared with $76.6 billion. Nationwide, banks reported a 6.9 percent increase in loans and a decline in profits, which fell to $39 billion from $39.8 billion a year ago.
The number of banks across the nation on the FDIC “problem list” fell to 165 during the first quarter, which is the smallest number of “problem” banks since mid-2008.
The FDIC Deposit Insurance Fund, supported by bank premiums, increased to $75.1 billion in the first quarter, up $2.5 billion from the last quarter. In Iowa, the number of banks dropped to 309 from 318 a year ago.
“For Iowa to preserve its diverse banking options, policymakers will need to moderate the burden of 22,000 pages of new banking regulations enacted since passage of the Dodd-Frank financial law in 2010,” Sorensen said.
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