Republic N.Y. Takes 86% Hit; Fleet Profits Surge 16%

Second-quarter earnings at Republic New York Corp. crashed to $11.1 million - a whopping 86% decline - following a $120 million charge for severance and other cost-cutting expenses.

In May, Republic said it would cut 850 of out a worldwide total of 5,500 jobs as part of an expense reduction program. The reorganization is expected to produce annual savings of $75 million. Republic said Wednesday that it was "on target with its expense reduction objectives."

In line with trends at most other banks, net interest income at Republic fell 10.7% to $189 million. At least part of the reduction came from a fall in average interest assets to $31 billion from $33 billion a year ago, after the bank scaled back local currency investments in Brazil.

Republic, which had pumped several hundreds of millions of dollars into local currency investments in that country, pulled the funds back out earlier this year in anticipation of a devaluation.

Other operating income, mainly trading, rose 28% to $120 million at the bank, while its loan loss provision remained low, at $3 million.

"Aside from the charge, the loss of Brazil income obviously hurt," said Lawrence R. Vitale, an analyst at Bear, Stearns & Co.

But he also predicted that "even if the size of the restructuring charge appears large relative to savings, they'll get that paid back over time."

Elsewhere, large northeastern regional banks reported mixed results.

Second-quarter earnings at Boston-based Shawmut National Corp. totaled $82.6 million despite a $13.6 million charge related to the bank's pending agreement to merge with Fleet Financial Group, Providence, R.I. Shawmut, with headquarters in Boston and Hartford, Conn., lost $18.7 million in the second quarter a year ago.

Fleet reported record net income of $172 million, or $1.05 a share, up 16% over a year earlier. Terrence Murray, chairman and chief executive of the $51 billion-asset bank, said an 8% rise in loans and growth in lease financing as well as higher revenues in mortgage banking were behind the improvement.

"It was about what we were looking for," said Thomas Theurkauf, a bank analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. in New York.

"Fleet looks a little bit stronger than expected," said Nancy Bush, a banking analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. But she also noted that at least part of the improvement came from Fleet's recent purchase of $14 billion in mortgage servicing from Household Services, a move that brought the bank's mortgage servicing portfolio to more than $100 billion.

Net earnings doubled at Philadelphia-based CoreStates Financial Corp. The $29 billion-asset bank earned $126 million in the second quarter as net interest income rose nearly 8%, to $383 million. Noninterest income rose slightly, to $145 million, while CoreStates reported a 12% drop in expenses, to $300 million. The bank also cut its loss provision by 50%, to $25 million.

Earnings fell 36.4% at $15 billion-asset Meridian Bancorp, to $25.9 million after a $32 million pretax restructuring charge. The Reading, Pa.- based bank's net interest margin was essentially flat, at 4.60%, while the provision for loan losses grew to cover a 6% jump in the loan portfolio. Meridian's provision was $10.1 million in the second quarter, compared to $6.7 million in the year-earlier period.

Chatham, N.J.-based Summit Bancorp. reported a 33% increase in net earnings, to $17.9 million, mainly as a result of declining noninterest expenses, lower loan loss provisions, and higher net interest income that were only partially offset by a decline in noninterest income.

Summit has $5.5 billion of assets. +++ Republic New York Corp. New York Dollar amounts in millions (except per share) Second Quarter 2Q95 2Q94 Net income $11.1 $79.4 Per share 0.02 1.31 ROA 0.01% 0.70% ROE 0.21% 14.82% Net interest margin 2.56% 2.68% Net interest income 189.2 212.0 Noninterest income 189.2 212.0 Noninterest expense 119.9 93.4 Loss provision 3.0 3.0 Net chargeoffs 7.8 2.2 Year to Date 1995 1994 Net income $98.6 $159.2 Per share 1.50 2.65 ROA 0.39% 0.71% ROE 7.89% 14.08% Net interest margin 2.70% 2.60% Net interest income 405.2 410.2 Noninterest income 219.1 198.0 Noninterest expense 490.3* 367.1 Loss provision 6.0 13.0 Net chargeoffs 11.5 10.8 Balance Sheet 6/30/95 6/30//94 Assets $41,715.7 $41,409.8 Deposits 23,934.5 22,457.4 Loans 9,338.5 9,258.1 Reserve/nonp. loans 592.68% 497.79% Nonperf. loans/loans 0.56% 0.68% Nonperf. assets/assets 0.19% 0.21% Nonperf. assets/loans + OREO NA NA Leverage cap. ratio 6.30%** 6.03% Tier 1 cap. ratio 16.80%** 16.15% Tier 1+2 cap. ratio 28.40%** 27.52% *includes $120.0 million restructuring charge **estimated Fleet Financial Group Providence Dollar amounts in millions (except per share) Second Quarter 2Q95 2Q94 Net income $172.2 $148.3 Per share 1.05 0.90 ROA 1.41% 1.22% ROE 18.56% 18.31% Net interest margin 4.73% 4.66% Net interest income 506.7 512.2 Noninterest income 363.0 270.5 Noninterest expense 548.3 504.5 Loss provision 27.6 12.0 Net chargeoffs 45.7 21.0 Year to Date 1995 1994 Net income $336.3 $283.9 Per share 2.06 1.69 ROA 1.42% 1.18% ROE 19.13% 16.78% Net interest margin 4.77% 4.70% Net interest income 1,003.8 1,024.5 Noninterest income 669.3 565.0 Noninterest expense 1,046.0 1,054.0 Loss provision 47.8 34.4 Net chargeoffs 81.0 52.9 Balance Sheet 6/30/95 6/30//94 Assets $51,317.0 $49,201.0 Deposits 33,030.0 32,369.0 Loans 30,107.0 26,856.0 Reserve/nonp. loans 194.00% 218.85% Nonperf. loans/loans 1.63% 1.66% Nonperf. assets/assets 1.13% 1.15% Nonperf. assets/loans + OREO 1.92% 2.09% Leverage cap. ratio 7.50% 7.40% Tier 1 cap. ratio 9.50% 11.90% Tier 1+2 cap. ratio 13.50% 16.60% ===

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER