Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., has reported improved credit quality in the third quarter, along with increases in loans, deposits, and fee income, but its earnings still declined by 17%, to $36.5 million, from the year earlier.
The $12 billion-asset company attributed the drop to an $11.2 million tax expense, reflecting an effective tax rate of 23.8%. In last year's third quarter it had no income tax expense after it reduced its tax reserve by $11.2 million. It said it expects its tax rate for the fourth quarter to be 25%.
For the quarter, loans increased 9.3%, to $8.4 billion, from the year earlier, due largely to gains in its indirect automobile lending and residential mortgage portfolios; deposits grew 1%, also to $8.4 billion.
The company, which reported its third-quarter results late Wednesday, said it charged off $2.9 million of loans in the period, down from $3.1 million in the second quarter.
