SunTrust Banks, Inc. Reports Unaudited Consolidated Earnings Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year Ended December 31, 2015; Provides Earnings Guidance for the Year 2016; Reports Net Charge Offs for the Fourth Quarter of 2015
January 22, 2016 at 04:39 pm IST
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SunTrust Banks, Inc. reported unaudited consolidated earnings results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2015. For the quarter, net income available to common shareholders of $467 million, or $0.91 per average common diluted share, which includes $0.03 per share in discrete tax benefits against $378 million or $0.72 per basic and diluted share a year ago. Total revenue was $2.0 billion for the current quarter, a decrease of $12 million compared to the prior quarter. The decline was driven primarily by lower wealth management-related revenue, as well as a reduction in asset disposition gains, partially offset by higher net interest income and mortgage-related revenue. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, total revenue was relatively stable as higher net interest income was offset by lower noninterest income. Net interest income was $1.3 billion for the current quarter, an increase of $34 million compared to the prior quarter. The increase was primarily due to solid loan growth, higher securities yields, and a reduction in average long-term debt. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, the $33 million increase in net interest income was driven by growth in average earning assets and a decrease in long-term debt, partially offset by a slight decline in earning asset yields. Return on average total assets was 1.01% against 0.83% a year ago. Return on average common shareholders' equity was 8.28% against 6.91% a year ago. Return on average tangible common shareholders' equity was 11.40% against 9.62% a year ago. Income before provision for income taxes was $672 million against $522 million a year ago. Adjusted net income available to common shareholders was $467 or $0.91 per diluted share against $466,000 or $0.88 per diluted share a year ago. Adjusted income before provision for income taxes was $667 million.
For 2015, total revenue was $8.2 billion, a decline of $131 million compared to 2014. The decline was largely driven by the $105 million gain on sale of RidgeWorth during 2014 (and associated foregone revenue in 2015) and lower net interest income, partially offset by growth in capital markets and mortgage-related revenue, in addition to higher securities gains. Net interest income was $4.9 billion, a $76 million decrease compared to 2014. The decline in net interest income was driven by lower earning asset yields, largely due to a 15 basis point decline in loan yields, partially offset by strong deposit growth that enabled a decline in higher-cost long-term debt. Net income available to common shareholders was $1,863 million or $3.58 per diluted share against $1,729 million or $3.23 per diluted share a year ago, increase is driven by improved credit quality and efficiency. Return on average total assets was 1.02% against 0.97% a year ago. Return on average common shareholders' equity was 8.42% against 8.06% a year ago. Return on average tangible common shareholders' equity was 11.64% against 11.33% a year ago. Book value per common share as on December 31, 2015 was $43.66 against $41.52 as on December 31, 2014. Income before provision for income taxes was $2,707 million against $2,278 million a year ago. Adjusted net income available to common shareholders was $1,863 million or $3.58 per diluted share against $1,729 million or $3.24 per diluted share a year ago. Tangible book value per share was stable sequentially and up 6% compared to the prior year, driven by growth in retained earnings, partially offset by a lower AOCI as a result of higher interest rates. For the full year, the company saw a $137 million increase in adjusted net income, which is primarily due to the significantly improved credit quality of the loan portfolio, both as a result of the improving housing market and their proactive actions to derisk the book. This improvement was partially offset by a decline in net interest income as a result of $2.3 billion of loan sales in 2014 and lower loan spreads in 2015.
Net charge-offs for the fourth quarter 2015 were $83 million, representing 0.24% of average loans on an annualized basis, increasing from $71 million in the prior quarter and decreasing from $94 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.
For the year 2016, the company expects net interest margin of 15.5% and ROA of 2.5% to 3.0%.
SunTrust Banks is a financial services group organized around 3 areas of activity:
- retail banking (61.7% of Net Interest Income);
- fund management (37.5%);
- other (0.8%): primarily business banking and mortgage banking.
At the end of 2017, the group manages EUR134.2 billion of outstanding deposits and EUR118.1 billion outstanding loans.
Products and services are marketed through a network of 1,268 banking agencies located in the United States.
SunTrust Banks, Inc. Reports Unaudited Consolidated Earnings Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year Ended December 31, 2015; Provides Earnings Guidance for the Year 2016; Reports Net Charge Offs for the Fourth Quarter of 2015