Earnings

Fourth-quarter profits rose 10% at the Cleveland company as investment banking income hit a record and nonperforming loans plummeted. Executives say charge-offs will probably start rising in late 2022 but that fee income from capital markets transactions will keep growing.

Executives predict a 5% to 6% bump in lending this year, and they also say they'd be comfortable if up to a third of the Cincinnati company's excess cash migrates away.

The Tennessee bank reported an uptick in commercial lending during the fourth quarter. Executives pointed to the impact of a 2020 acquisition that allowed First Horizon to bulk up in in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana.

Costs climbed 11% in the fourth quarter, but the Georgia company says it remains on track to generate $175 million by the end of this year through a combination of expense cuts and revenue enhancements.

The government has become more skeptical of mergers, but the Minneapolis company expressed confidence it can maintain its original timeline for the $8 billion acquisition. Separately, it announced substantial changes to its overdraft program that will, among other things, eliminate fees for nonsufficient funds.

The largest bank based in oil-rich Texas is building a framework for gauging the threat that climate change poses to its business and plans to disclose more information on the subject this summer. Meanwhile, its energy loan portfolio shrank 24% year over year.

Customers are ramping up borrowing just as interest rates are poised to rise. That combination “sets us up nicely for 2022,” says CEO Brian Moynihan.