HUNTINGTON

profit in the Januaryto-March quarter jumped 21 percent from a year earlier, to $208 million, or 17 cents per share. That was an increase of $37 million from the first quarter of 2016.

The results would have been better had it not been for expenses of $71 million pretax in the first quarter tied to the FirstMerit deal. Without those expenses, the bank would have earned 21 cents per share, matching analyst estimates.

Revenue in the quarter jumped 40 percent to $1.1 billion.

Despite the results, shares of Huntington fell 1.6 percent Wednesday to close at $12.59, continuing a downturn over the past six weeks or so in which the shares and those of many other banks have slid more than 10 percent. Huntington shares hit a multiyear high of $14.74 on March 1; they are 14.6 percent lower today. Net interest income Noninterest income Net income Earnings per share $503.1 million $241.9 million $171.3 million 20 cents

Shares of banks had jumped after the election of President Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Congress in November, in the hopes of lower corporate taxes, reduced regulation, a stronger economy that would drive up loan demand, and higher interest rates that would boost profits.

Lately, though, there have been signs that the economy is weakening and that corporate tax reform won’t come as quickly as expected. Long-term interest rates have fallen. $730.0 million $312.5 million $208.1 million 17 cents

Huntington Bancshares said its first-quarter profit jumped 21 percent, helped by last year’s acquisition of Akron-based FirstMerit. The bank said it is seeing manufacturing and infrastructure growth in the Midwest, and that businesses are adding jobs and investing more, helping the bank.

“Huntington is not immune to that,” said Nick Raich, CEO of the Earnings Scout, a Cleveland stock-advisory firm.

Huntington’s results, like those of other banks, have looked good, but the concern about interest rates has trumped that, Raich said.

“Of the banks, 83 percent are beating their (profit) estimates,” he said. “It sounds great. Fantastic numbers. ... Bank stocks are down 10 percent in general. That was something not anticipated.”

Steinour acknowledged on a call with analysts that the year has started slowly, as has happened in recent years, but he said that activity improved in March and is expected to be stronger in the second half of the year. The bank is sticking with its full-year forecast of an increase in loan growth of 4 to 6 percent.

“The Midwest still has a manufacturing core. There are conversations (about buying products) made in the USA, and there is important traffic spurring a level of activity that we should benefit from,” he said.

But he and Raich said business owners might be hesitant to invest until they have more information about what tax reform will entail.

“Most of our privatebusiness owners need clarity on what the rules are going to be,” Steinour said. “That’s really important. Hopefully, this is a momentary pause to let things get established.”