Comerica Inc. said it earned $84 million in the second quarter, or 70 cents a share, virtually even with its earnings for the first three months of the year and well ahead of its results one year earlier.
The Detroit-based company lost $12 million in the second quarter of 1992 because of a $92 million after-tax restructuring charge related to its merger with Manufacturers National Corp. The profits reported Friday were directly in line with analysts' expectations. Comerica's shares fell 25 cents to $30.125 in late trading Friday afternoon.
The company, which has $27.4 billion of assets, has been under the gun because of its failure to realize expense savings from its 1992 merger with Manufacturers National. Expenses "still seem to be lagging," said Mark Lynch, an analyst at Lehman Brothers. But he added that Comerica, like many midwestern banks in the second quarter, experienced fairly strong loan growth.
Comerica's outstanding loans grew 2.6% since the end of the first quarter, or more than 10% annualized. Net interest income grew 1% from the year-earlier quarter, reflecting "improved net interest margins," the company said.
The company's return on average assets rose from negative territory one year ago to 1.25% for the quarter, while return on equity rebounded to 15.68%. Comerica also announced that it increased its quarterly cash dividend by 9.8% to 28 cents a share. The dividend was last increased to 25.5 cents in the fourth quarter of 1992.
Mr. Lynch said the dividend rise was unexpected.
