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| Quarterly loan originations were up more than 100 percent at Fifth Third Bancorp.First-quarter production was $4.9 billion, the Cincinnati-based company reported today. Fundings climbed from $2.1 billion during the prior quarter and $4.0 billion in the first-quarter 2008.
The servicing portfolio ended March at $41.5 billion, higher than $40.4 billion at the end of 2008. The bank held $8.9 billion in residential mortgages at the end of the quarter, lower than $9.4 billion at the end of December. Home-equity holdings were mostly unchanged at $12.7 billion. Commercial mortgage holdings were $12.6 billion, up from the fourth quarter’s $12.5 billion. Commercial construction loans fell to $4.7 billion from $5.1 billion. Fifth Third earned $50 million in the first quarter, a vast improvement from the $2.1 billion loss in the prior period but well below the $286 million profit a year earlier. An increase in preferred dividends — from $42 million in the fourth quarter to $76 million in the most recent quarter — was primarily the result of $3.4 billion in preferred stock purchased by the U.S. Treasury Department under the capital purchase program. Fifth Third took a $38 million “reduction in loan discount accretion” tied to its second-quarter 2008 acquisition of First Charter Corp. Headcount was 20,618 on March 31, up from 21,476 three months earlier. |
