Comerica Projects Healthy 2Q Loan Growth on Rising Real Estate Activity

Activist-pressured Comerica disclosed some long-awaited, positive news, reporting an uptick in average loan balances so far in the second quarter.

Average loans as of May 20 have increased 2% compared with March 31, to $49.3 billion, the Dallas company disclosed in a regulatory filing Tuesday. It attributed the growth to strong commercial real estate lending.

The uptick reverses three straight quarters of declines in average loan balances.

If lending continues at a similar clip through June 30, Comerica will exceed current estimates for second-quarter loan growth, Scott Siefers, an analyst at Sandler O'Neill, wrote in a Tuesday note to clients.

Comerica also noted that energy loan balances have declined, as expected, due to spring redeterminations. Total energy loans were about $2.9 billion at May 20, or about 6% lower than the first quarter.

Overall, borrowing bases for oil and gas companies have declined by an average of 22%. Comerica said it is about halfway through the redetermination process.

Comerica is set to present at the Deutsche Bank Financial Services conference on Wednesday. Tuesday's filing included a copy of the company's presentation.

The updates come as Comerica remains under pressure to boost performance and explore a sale.

Returns have lagged over the past year, as the company struggles with declining oil prices and low interest rates.

Comerica said last month that it had hired Boston Consulting Group to conduct an internal review of its operations. It is expected to disclose the results during its second-quarter earnings call in July.

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