Tag Archives: Profits

SunTrust is taking steps to improve its position in the market. The bank has continued to grow its mortgage banking division, which earned $258 million last quarter, according to FBR Capital Markets. While this was offset by repurchase provisions, the bank has now settled short-term losses, leaving FBR with expectations of profitability ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£especially as the refi boom continues.├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø FBR expects SunTrust will bring in $531 million from its mortgage banking division this year and close to twice that next year.

Independent mortgage bankers and originators saw their profits rise over the second quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The trade group released a statement on Thursday that found independent mortgage banks and subsidiaries clinching $2,152 on average for every loan from the second quarter. That's an increase from $1,654 per loan from the quarter before. Net production income shot up by 107 basis points, a leap from 82 basis points from the first quarter.

The U.S. economy grew in the second quarter at 1.7 percent, slightly faster than the originally estimated 1.5 percent, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday. At the same time BEA reported second quarter grew at a meager 0.5 percent from the first quarter, but an improvement from the 2.7 percent drop in corporate profits registered in the first quarter. Profits in the financial sector though fell more than 9 percent. The upward revision in second quarter GDP growth was in line with the forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

As bank failures dwindle, FDIC-backed institutions continue to see their own coffers swell, with an agency report finding that banks with government guarantees earned $34.5 billion over the second quarter. And banks seemed to sweat a little less over the last quarter. The FDIC reported that banks with its seal of approval saw their year-over-year increases for the 12th straight quarter. Loan balances meanwhile ticked up by $102 billion, increasing for the fourth time in the last five quarters.

Outpacing industry forecasts, mortgage originations ticked up 5.2 percent in the second quarter, totaling $405 billion during the three-month period, according to a report released this week from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods. On an annual basis, originations are up 44.6 percent, according to the study. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods suggests much of the increase came from refinance activity driven by low interest rates. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods predicts strong origination volume next quarter.

Following Tuesday├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós news that Freddie Mac will not require a draw from Treasury this quarter, Fannie Mae announced the same on Wednesday in its second quarter earnings report. This is the second consecutive quarter that the GSE has not required a draw from Treasury. Before this year, Fannie May required a draw from Treasury for the previous 11 consecutive quarters. The GSE reported a net worth of $2.8 billion with comprehensive income in the second quarter reaching $5.4 billion. This is up from $2.9 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, a federal bank aimed at providing affordable residential mortgages, recorded increasing income and an increasing annualized return on equity in the second quarter of 2012, according to information the bank released to the public Monday. The bank released highlights from the second quarter in an unaudited release and will file a full report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta reported a net income of $60 million for the quarter, up $22 million from the same quarter last year.

A weakened second quarter may indicate a slowdown in economic activity for the rest of the year, Fannie Mae reported Monday. According to a report from the GSE, its Economic & Strategic Research Group may have been too optimistic in its original 2012 GDP growth projection of 2.2 percent. Its revised growth rate estimate is 2.0 percent. Despite the downgrade in anticipated economic growth, Fannie Mae found a silver lining in the housing market. Year-over-year, home sales increased by 9 percent, and single-family housing starts are nearly 20 percent higher (although still below healthy norms).

After recording a loss in the first quarter of the year, Bank of America announced a net income of $2.5 billion, $0.19 per diluted share in the second quarter of this year, according to a press release. The $8.8 billion in net loss in the first quarter was partially due to $18.2 billion charges ├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├àÔÇ£for certain mortgage-related items and other select adjustments, including provisions for representations and warranties and goodwill impairment,├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├é┬Ø according to the press release. This trend reversed during the second quarter. Bank of America lent out about $107 billion.

Citigroup reported a net income of $2.9 billion, $0.95 per share, during the second quarter of this year, down 12 percent from the second quarter of last year, according to its earnings report released Monday. The bank├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós revenues totaled $18.6 billion in the second quarter, a 10 percent decline from last year. According to Citigroup, the decline in earnings is largely the result of the ongoing process of winding down Citi Holdings, a division opened in 2009 to house assets and businesses the bank hopes to unload.