Zions Posts Higher Profit on Fees, Cost Control

Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City posted a double-digit increase in quarterly profit that reflected higher fees and cost control.

The $60 billion-asset company said in a press release Monday that its third-quarter earnings rose 39% from a year earlier to $116.9 million, or 57 cents a share.

Net interest income rose 10% to $469 million. Total loans increased by 6% to $42.4 billion, including higher totals for commercial real estate and consumer lending. The net interest margin expanded by 25 basis points to 3.36%, while the loan-loss provision decreased by dropped 20% to $16 million.

Noninterest income jumped 15% to $145 million because of higher customer-related fees and securities gains.

Noninterest expenses increased by 3% to $403 million, partly due to increases in employee benefits-related items.

Zions, meanwhile, said that it still plans to keep annual noninterest expense below $1.58 billion while also achieving an efficiency ratio of less than 66% this year.

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