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Over half of Massachusetts banks have had losses so far in 2020 as the pandemic and margin pressure continue to affect earnings, though more banks moved out of the red in the third quarter.

According to the FDIC’s Quarterly Banking Profile for the second quarter of 2020, Massachusetts’ 109 FDIC-insured institutions together had year-to-date net income of $2.28 billion, down 20.8 percent compared to the first nine months of 2019.

About 42 percent of banks reported income gains this year compared to 60 percent at the same time last year. More banks did report gains compared to the second quarter, when only 33.9 percent of banks had earnings.

FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams said in a statement that the banking industry nationwide reported better results in the third quarter compared to the first half of 2020. But she noted that the industry continues to experience the ongoing effects from economic uncertainty and the low interest rate environment. She added that banks in the third quarter faced additional downward pressure on net interest margins, an increase in nonperforming loans and a decline in loan volume.

“Community banks continued to outperform the industry with stronger improvements in annual net income and loan growth,” McWilliams said. “Nonetheless, community banks continued to report an annual increase in provisions, further net interest margin compression, and a modest increase in nonperforming loans.”

Net interest margin for Massachusetts banks was down to 1.87 percent at the end of the third quarter compared to 1.90 percent in the second quarter and 2.40 percent on Sept. 30 last year.

Massachusetts institutions have seen a collective 2.23 percent yield on all earning assets this year, down from 2.31 on June 30 and 3.18 percent on Sept. 30, 2019.

The percent of unprofitable institutions is now at 5.5 percent, an improvement over the second quarter when 11 percent were unprofitable, but still more than the third quarter last year when only 2.6 percent of the state’s banks were unprofitable. In the first quarter of 2020, almost 21 percent of Massachusetts banks were unprofitable.

The 2020 deposit surge held steady, with statewide deposits dipping just slightly to $360.36 billion, down less than 1 percent from June 30. Deposits were 15.7 percent higher compared to the first nine months of 2019, when Massachusetts banks held $311.33 billion in deposits.

Massachusetts’ FDIC-insured institutions together had total assets of almost $459.89 billion on Sept. 30 compared to $410.59 billion on Sept. 30, 2019. Assets were down from the second quarter, when banks had $465.1 billion in total assets.

Total loans and leases were $169.5 billion, up 6.6 percent year-over-year from $158.98 billion.

The number of full-time-equivalent employees in these institutions fell to 51,458 on Sept. 30 compared to 51,588 on June 30 and 52,529 on Sept. 30, 2019.

Earnings Remain Down at Mass. Banks, FDIC says

by Diane McLaughlin time to read: 2 min
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