First Horizon National Q4 earnings $0.20 per diluted share
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From 2014 to 2015, total average loans grew 7 percent.
Average loans, average core deposits and fixed income average daily revenue all increased both quarter over quarter and year over year. 2015 also saw First Horizon complete its acquisition of Raleigh, N.C.-based TrustAtlantic Bank and its parent company, TrustAtlantic Financial Corp., in October.
From 2014 to 2015, total average loans grew 7 percent, total average core deposits increased by 15 percent, and fixed income average daily revenues were up 15 percent.
For 2015, net income available to common shareholders was $79.7 million, or $0.34, compared to $216.3 million, or $0.91 per share, for 2014. 2015’s results included $162.5 million – a $0.42 per-share impact – related to the Department of Justice/HUD settlement in April, another major step First Horizon took to resolve issues related to the mortgage business the company sold in 2008.
2015’s full-year earnings included several notable items, as detailed in the reconciliation later in this release; results with those items adjusted out were net income of $191 million, or $0.81 per share.
Net income available to common shareholders in the fourth quarter was $47 million, or $0.20 per share, compared to $58.8 million, or $0.25 per share, for third quarter. Fourth quarter’s results included a $14 million litigation expense. Third quarter’s results included an $11.6 million litigation expense, an $8 million pre-tax gain from employee benefits amendments and a $6 million pre-tax gain from retirement of debt.
First Tennessee, the regional bank, had yet another strong quarter. Net interest income increased 3 percent from third to fourth quarter, bringing total 2015 growth to 9 percent.
Average loans rose 3 percent, and average core deposits were up 2 percent from third quarter to fourth quarter 2015. Once again, commercial loans grew, driven by specialty lending areas. TrustAtlantic contributed to growth in commercial real estate and business banking.
FTN Financial, the fixed income group, capitalized on lower rate uncertainty to increase average daily revenue 27 percent, to $850,000, in fourth quarter 2015 from $671,000 in the prior quarter, contributing to a 15 percent increase in average daily revenue for the year.
FTN Financial earned the No. 1 spot among underwriters of callable GSE (government-sponsored enterprise) debt for 2015, with total underwritings nearly doubling, to $21 billion.
Asset quality trends remained strong, with non-performing loans and non-performing assets both declining from third quarter to fourth quarter and from full-year 2014 to full-year 2015.
Capital levels also remained strong, with the estimated Common Equity Tier 1 ratio at 10.45 percent. Share repurchases resumed in the fourth quarter. First Horizon has repurchased 33 million shares since October 2011, reducing net share count by 9 percent. ■