Regional banks

After nearly two years of sputtering commercial loan growth, regional bankers are counting heavily on expanding their portfolios of personal loans and other types of consumer credit.

SunTrust let about eight weeks pass before telling the public that data tied to 1.5 million customers had been stolen.

The Louisiana company has vowed to meaningfully improve investor returns and efficiency over the next two years.

The regional bank's net income rose 37% thanks to those factors and others.

The Waterbury, Conn., company also posted a double-digit gain in net interest income thanks to a 7% increase in commercial loan balances and a widening net interest margin.

The North Carolina company's efforts to contain expenses made up for a marginal increase in revenue.

Results were also aided by strong growth in residential construction, commercial and equipment financing.

A $135 million increase in litigation expenses related to its 2011 acquisition of Wilmington Trust overshadowed a wider net interest margin and improved credit quality for the Buffalo, N.Y., company in the first quarter.

Bankers hoped the tax overhaul would stimulate a boom in business borrowing, but several said this week that hasn’t happened yet. PNC’s Bill Demchak warned that the tax cuts could be encouraging lenders to underprice loans.

The Pittsburgh company reported a 39% gain in retail banking profits amid a lot of strong first-quarter numbers, yet it still fell short of analysts' earnings expectations by a penny and wants to push for stronger loan growth.