Texas-headquartered regional lender, Comerica,
has beaten analyst forecasts with a first quarter net profit of
$103m, compared with a loss of $71m in the corresponding period
last year.
But the retail banking unit of Comerica
remained in the red and lost $2m for the three months to 31 March,
compared with a loss of $7m in the year-ago period.
At group level, Comerica was boosted by a fall
in provisions for loan losses of 72% to $49m in the first
quarter.
Although Comerica’s net interest margin
improved by 7 basis points year-on-year to 3.25%, net interest
income declined 4% to $395m from last year.
Total assets declined by 3.7% year-on-year to
$55.0bn.
Subject to regulatory and shareholder
approval, Comerica is aiming to close the acquisition of Sterling
Bancshares in the second quarter.
In January, Comerica announced its proposed
acquisition of Houston-headquartered Sterling in a deal worth
around $1.03bn.
The acquisition will augment Comerica’s
444-strong branch network by a further 57 outlets; in addition, the
deal adds about $3bn in loans and
$4bn in deposits.