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First Financial Bancorp in Cincinnati disclosed that its general counsel has resigned.
October 10 -
A new report from Celent finds that many banks plan to expand their branch networks over the next few years even though all the evidence suggests that foot traffic is declining and that most transactions are now conducted online.
May 9
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) in Cincinnati posted lower profits in the third quarter on reduced loan and other revenue.
The company's earnings fell to $14.9 million, an 8% decrease from the same quarter in 2012. First Financial's net interest income declined 6.8%, to $55.8 million, as income from loans dipped 11%. Its net interest margin was 3.91%, down 30 basis points.
Noninterest income slid 28% to $22.3 million. The decline was largely driven by reduced revenue from the sale of loans and investment securities, along with a 35% decrease in income from loss-sharing agreements with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
A 12% drop in noninterest expenses, which fell to $48.8 million, helped moderate the impact of the falloff in revenue. Lower overhead costs on marketing, salaries and benefits contributed to the decrease, along with gains from other real estate owned and lower loss-sharing expenses.
First Financial reduced its provision for uncovered loans and leases by 60.9%, to $1.4 million. The company also cut back 20% its provision for covered loans, which stood at $5.3 million.
First Financial has $6.2 billion in assets.
