US banks report Q1 record earnings of US$40.3b

US banks earned more from January through March than during any quarter on record, buoyed by greater income from fees and fewer losses from bad loans.

The largest banks are increasingly driving the industry’s profits, while many smaller institutions continue to struggle.

The industry earned US$40.3 billion (HK$312.9 billion) in the first quarter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday. That’s the highest figure ever for a single quarter. And it’s up 15.8 per cent from the first quarter of last year.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/1249686/us-banks-report-q1-record-earnings-us403b