SunTrust Fourth-Quarter Earnings In Line With Estimates

SunTrust Banks (STI Quote) posted fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday in line with analysts' expectations.

The Atlanta-based bank, the nation's tenth-largest and the first major bank to report earnings, said fourth-quarter net income, excluding charges, was $331.9 million, or $1.12 a share, up from $1.06 a share earned in the same period last year. According to First Call/Thomson Financial, 18 analysts produced a consensus estimate of $1.12 a share for the quarter.

Including $1.5 million in after-tax, merger-related charges, income for the quarter was $330.4 million, or $1.11 a share. SunTrust also said it recorded an extraordinary gain of $335.3 million or $1.06 a share, during the fourth quarter.

The provision for loan losses for the quarter was $53.4 million, up from $33.1 million a year ago. Net charge-offs for the quarter were $53.4 million, or 0.30% of average loans, down from $109 million, or 0.67% of average loans, in last year's fourth-quarter. As of Dec. 31, nonperforming assets were $428.3 million, or 0.41% of total assets, compared with 0.29% in the year-ago period.

For the quarter, reported return on average assets was 1.33% and return on average realized equity was 1.4%.

Shares of SunTrust closed at $60.81 in Tuesday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.