FNB chief says buying frenzy is over
Latest acquisition raised assets to nearly $30B
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh-based FNB, which has been on a buying binge in recent years, isn’t looking to do any more major deals now that it has reached the size it needs to compete, CEO Vincent Delie Jr. told analysts Thursday.
The bank is set to complete the previously announced acquisition of North Carolina-based Yadkin Bank in the current quarter, boosting its assets to nearly $30 billion. That’s about triple the size FNB was before a string of acquisitions that began in 2012 with the takeover of Monroeville-based Parkvale Financial.
Yadkin, with about $7.5 billion in assets, is FNB’s biggest deal to date. It expands the bank’s geographic reach into the Carolinas, including high-growth markets in Raleigh, Charlotte, WinstonSalem and elsewhere.
“Our primary objective is to get Yadkin done and converted and moving forward,” Mr. Delie said during a conference call discussing fourth-quarter financial results.
“Once that happens, we have a tremendous opportunity” to grow in the newly acquired markets and other major markets such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore, he said.
“I think we have achieved the scale that we need to compete effectively” without more acquisitions, he said. “So we’re ready to go. We’re going to make it happen.”
The region’s third-biggest retail bank behind PNC and Citizens, FNB on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profits of $49.3 million, or 23 cents per share, up from $37.1 million, or 21 cents, in the same quarter a year earlier.
For the full year, the bank earned $162.9 million, or 78 cents per share, compared with $151.6 million, or 86 cents, in 2015.
Results for 2016 included merger-related expenses of 12 cents per share, FNB said.