DOW JONES NEWSWIRES CIT Group Inc.'s (CIT) first-quarter earnings fell 55%, as the lender to small- and mid-sized businesses saw significantly lower income from interest and fees on loans. Earlier this month, regulators lifted a cease-and-desist order on the company, allowing it to increase its brokered deposits, which bolsters its access to deposits and underscores its progress in winning back the confidence of regulators. The company has said it has benefited from broad-based increases in new business volume and stabilizing credit trends. CIT reported a profit of $65.6 million, or 33 cents a share, down from $144.6 million, or 72 cents, a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had most recently forecast earnings of 16 cents. Total interest income declined 42% to $643.2 million, hurt by a 42% drop in interest and fees on loans. So-called "other" income jumped 20% from the previous year to $691.5 million. Credit-loss provisions were $123.4 million, down from $226.1 million a year earlier and $182.4 million a quarter earlier. Total assets were $50.68 billion, compared with $58.55 billion a year earlier and $50.96 billion in the prior quarter. Shares were inactive premarket after closing the prior day at $42.40. As of the close, the stock had risen 6.1% the past year. -By Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@dowjones.com;
