CORRECT:Fifth Third Expects Net Interest Margin To Expand
July 23 2009 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) Chief Executive Kevin Kabat said
Thursday that he sees some early improvements in troubled consumer
loans, adding that lending will continue to become more profitable.
"We expect continued expansion in the net interest margin during
the second half of the year," he said.
During a conference call with investors following the Cincinnati
bank's second quarter earnings report, he said: "Our current
expectation is for loan losses in the third quarter to show a
moderate increase from the second quarter, with higher commercial
real estate charge offs partially offset by lower consumer real
estate charge offs."
"We've seen some deceleration in negative credit trends on the
consumer side," Kabat said. "Although the environment remains
difficult and signals are mixed, mixed is better than deteriorating
everywhere. Housing prices remain under pressure, although recent
data show a slowdown in the rate of decline in many markets."
-By Matthias Rieker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2471;
matthias.rieker@dowjones.com