M&T Bank CFO: 'We're Slogging Through'

Some $38 million of the net charge-offs recorded in the recent quarter were related to loans to builders and developers of residential real estate, while there were no such loans charged off in the year-earlier quarter and just $3 million in the first quarter of 2008.

In addition to the loan charge-offs were the associated home equity loans and lines of credit against homes, which totaled $9 million in the recent quarter and included $5 million related to Alt-A second mortgage loans. That compares to charging off only $2 million last year for the second quarter.

On a positive note, M&T had total assets of $65.9 billion at the end of the second quarter, up from $57.9 billion last year. Growth in average loans and leases, which rose 14% to $49.5 billion in the recent quarter from $43.6 billion in the second quarter of 2007, was the most significant contributor to the improvement. The bank paid $2.60 in dividends in 2007 and made no mention about future dividends in the earnings release.

The stock has dropped 37% in value over the last 12 months, but the drop is not as severe as some other regional banks. Mid-cap bank KeyCorp (KEY Quote) has plunged 72% in value over the last year and is reporting its earnings next week. Small-cap bank PacWest (PACW Quote) will be reporting its numbers on Monday and should give the markets a glimpse into the situation on the West Coast. PacWest is off by 74% for the year.