Jim Dobbs

A Northwest credit union announced plans this week to buy a community bank, lifting the 2024 total of such deals to 13 and putting the year on track to set a record. The all-time annual high of 16 was set in 2022.

The Chicago-area bank closed the fifth-largest deal announced this year in a matter of months. It may bode well for M&A, as several big transactions have been announced in 2024.

A judge postponed to Aug. 19 the scheduled sentencing date for Shan Hanes, the ex-CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank who admitted to embezzling $47 million from the lender, leading to its downfall.

The pace of deal activity in 2024 is ahead of a year earlier, thanks in large part to summer momentum and a spate of all-stock deals. But an early August market rout created a new hurdle for dealmaking in the second half of the year.

The stock swoon of early August, however, raises red flags and could delay an anticipated rise in loan demand for banks in need of stronger interest income, analysts caution.

New executives were lined up for lenders across the country, including Fremont Bank in California.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index was up 18% year to date through July, supporting expectations for more banks to use their shares as currency to take out competitors.

Despite the continuing trends of consolidation and limited startup activity, bankers and industry insiders say there is a path forward. But small lenders must evolve with changing technology.

The buyer said the all-stock deal to buy The First Bancshares would create a combined bank with $25 billion of assets.

The San Antonio-based bank is in the midst of a yearslong expansion effort spanning Houston, Dallas and Austin — all of which are fueling loan growth.

ChoiceOne Financial Services would pay about $180 million to acquire Fentura Financial in a bid to expand in Detroit's suburbs. The deal would create a bank with more than $4 billion of assets.

The $73.5 million all-stock deal, slated to close early in 2025, would create a bank with more than $3 billion of assets.

The Oklahoma-based bank also struck an upbeat tone on economic conditions and credit quality after it reported a sharp quarter-over-quarter increase in net income.

The Alabama-based bank also said that its outlook for net interest income is brightening. Several other regional banks have offered similarly upbeat guidance in recent days.

The Georgia-based bank recorded a $257 million hit after unloading a bundle of securities that it expects to redeploy into higher-yielding assets. It also forecast a resumption of loan growth in the second half of the year.

The top-performing banks with between $10 billion and $50 billion of assets boasted relatively strong loan portfolios and expense control.

The Pittsburgh-based superregional bank reported a small quarter-over-quarter advance in net interest income, and it expects loan growth to pick up in the second half of the year. PNC, which announced job cuts last year, also said that it has identified an additional $25 million in cost savings.

After its planned sale to a larger competitor fell through, the renamed bank plans to expand into new markets, starting with St. Louis.

Higher funding costs, lower loan demand and the potential for increased credit costs continue to drag on the sector heading into second-quarter earnings season.

With the Federal Reserve holding interest rates at elevated levels through the first half of the year, analysts are sharpening their collective focus on possible fallout from high deposit and borrowing costs.