Bank earnings rise in first quarter

PINNACLE PROFITS JUMP NEARLY 32 PERCENT

Pinnacle Financial Partners, the parent company of one of Tennessee’s biggest banks, boosted its first quarter profits by 31.7 percent.

Pinnacle said net income per share was $1.08 for the quarter, up from 82 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding pretax merger related charges of $5.4 million, net income per diluted common share was $1.13 for the three months ended March 31.

“I am very pleased that we are reporting year over year quarterly earnings growth of greater than 30 percent which is consistent with expectations for this year,” said M. Terry Turner, Pinnacle’s president and chief executive officer. “During the first quarter of 2018, we experienced significant hiring success throughout the franchise including in the Carolina and Virginia markets. Specifically, during the first quarter of 2018, we hired a total of 21 revenue producers across our markets, a strong predictor of our future growth.”

Pinnacle is second in size among Tennesseebased banks only behind First Tennessee.

BANK OF AMERICA SOARS TO RECORD PROFIT

Bank of America said it made a record $6.9 billion in profit during the first three months of the year as the bank got a lift from rising interest rates and new cuts to corporate taxes.

The bank said Monday its revenue rose 4 percent to $23.1 billion, compared with $22.2 billion in the same period last year. It marks the latest quarter in which Federal Reserve increases in short-term interest rates have boosted the bank’s results.

The quarter is also the first to show how the bank is benefiting from federal tax legislation passed in December that slashes the rate corporations pay on their profits. The bank reported paying $1.47 billion in income taxes, down more than 25 percent from the same quarter last year.

Monday’s profit was the highest for any quarter in the bank’s history, CEO Brian Moynihan noted. Moynihan, who took over the bank in 2010, attributed the performance in part to a growing global economy and strong U.S. consumer activity.