S&P: 2nd Quarter Bank Performance Unexceptional

NU Online News Service, Aug. 15, 4:16 p.m. – Accounting distortions, government inquiries and a jumpy stock market had little effect during the second quarter on most U.S. banks, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Rating Services, New York.

The second-quarter operating performance of the typical U.S. bank was steady, S&P analysts write.

“Notwithstanding a lot of noise surrounding the large, complex banks with their exposures to several troubled sectors, like telecom and Latin America, their quarter-to-quarter performance generally followed that of the regional banks,” says Charles Rauch, an S&P director. “Revenue growth was little changed from the previous quarter.”