ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 14, 1996 TAG: 9612160058
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: The Washington Post
The nation's commercial banks reported income of $13.2 billion in the third quarter, their third-highest quarterly total, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. But the major trouble spot for banks continues to be credit card loans.
At this year's pace, the banking industry could surpass $50 billion in annual earnings for the first time, the FDIC predicted.
For the first nine months, the nation's 9,586 FDIC-insured commercial banks earned $38.6 billion. The industry also had record net interest income of $41.4 billion in the third quarter.
Total assets increased by $61.4 billion to $4.5 trillion during the three-month period, with much of the growth occurring in credit card loans and loans to commercial borrowers, the FDIC reported.
``The only blemish on the banking industry's performance is in credit card lending,'' said FDIC Chairman Ricki Helfer.
Although credit card loans grew by $13.3 billion in the third quarter, charge-offs - debt the bank has determined is uncollectible - rose to $2.4 billion.
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