City National Earnings Beats Expectations

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City National Corp. late Thursday reported third quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates, as the parent of City National Bank benefited from acquisitions and set aside less money to cover bad loans.

The Los Angeles bank holding company reported net income of $40.3 million (76 cents per share) compared with $2.5 million (5 cents a year ago). Revenue rose 10 percent to more than $254 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected the company to report per-share profit of 58 cents on revenue of $257 million.

City National, which also has operations in Nevada and New York, acquired two failed banks from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in May. Third quarter results included a $2.1 million gain related to the FDIC-assisted acquisitions and a pretax charge of $12.3 million for the early retirement of debt. Net interest income was up 19 percent to $191 million. Total assets grew 19 percent to a record $21.8 billion.

The quarter’s $13 million provision for credit losses on non-FDIC covered loans was 59 percent lower than in the second quarter, and net charge-offs were down 16 percent. Nonperforming assets, excluding FDIC-covered assets, declined 5 percent.

“These third-quarter results reflect the underlying strength and continuing improvement of City National’s business,” said Chief Executive Russell Goldsmith in a statement. “City National does not have the foreclosure problems and risks that are getting headline attention at some of the nation’s largest banks.”

Shares earlier closed down 31 cents, or less than 1 percent, to at $51.96 on the New York Stock Exchange.