Iowa banks generated $832 million in profits through Sept. 30, a 13.8 percent increase from $731 million a year ago, according to the Iowa Bankers Association and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Through the first nine months of the year, loan levels increased 5.7 percent from the same period last year to $60.9 million, while deposits rose to $69.6 billion, up 3.8 percent from $67 million last year. Loan quality continues to improve, with net charge-offs at 0.08 percent of all loans, compared with 0.11 percent last year. Noncurrent loans were 0.68 percent at the end of the third quarter, down from 0.74 percent. “In the midst of our nation’s second-longest economic expansion on record, Iowa banks are fueling the expansion by growing loan balances at a faster pace than their counterparts around the country,” John Sorensen, president and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association, said in a statement. Nationwide, loan balances increased 4 percent over the year to $382.4 billion and net income was $62 billion, a 29.3 percent from a year ago. Iowa banks reported total assets of $85 billion at the end of the third quarter, up from $82 billion last year. Return on assets improved to 1.31 percent from 1.2 percent. Meanwhile, the number of bank charters continued to drop, with 291 banks reporting results at the end of the third quarter, compared with 299 a year ago and 304 at the end of the third quarter in 2016. Read a related story at BusinessRecord.com.