BB&T’s fourth-quarter profit falls 9 percent on merger costs

BB&T on Thursday said its fourth-quarter profit fell 9 percent from a year ago, as the Winston-Salem-based bank tallied higher expenses from two acquisitions.

BB&T said its purchases of Susquehanna Bancshares and the Bank of Kentucky added net interest income in the quarter, but also boosted non-interest expenses, including costs from personnel, real estate and merger-related charges.

For the quarter, BB&T reported net income available to common shareholders of $502 million, or 64 cents per share, compared with $551 million, or 75 cents per share a year earlier.

Revenue increased 7 percent to $2.6 billion, while non-interest expenses increased 15 percent to $1.6 billion.

“We are pleased to report solid results for the quarter, driven by strong net interest income following our acquisition of Susquehanna Bancshares during the third quarter,” said BB&T CEO Kelly King. “Our fee income remained steady and our net interest income was up more than 12 percent from the fourth quarter of last year.”

On an adjusted basis, BB&T had earnings per share of 68 cents, which was lower than the 73 cents expected by analysts, according to Bloomberg estimates. The bank’s shares were down less than 1 percent to $32.74 in early afternoon trading, on a generally positive day for bank stocks.

The bank said Thursday that it expects its planned acquisition of National Penn Bancshares to close on April 1, after receiving approval from regulators last month.

BB&T is a regional bank with $209.9 billion in assets and branches in 15 states and Washington, D.C. In the Charlotte area, it is the third largest by deposits.

This story was originally published January 21, 2016 at 12:07 PM with the headline "BB&T’s fourth-quarter profit falls 9 percent on merger costs."