BB&T first-quarter profit rises 8 percent

BB&T on Thursday said profits grew 8 percent in the first quarter from a year ago as acquisitions by the Winston-Salem-based bank boosted revenue.

BB&T reported $527 million in net income available to common shareholders, compared with $488 million in the first three months of last year. Adjusted earnings per share were 69 cents, 5 cents higher than analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Recent purchases by BB&T of other banks helped push its revenue to $2.6 billion, up 10 percent from the same period a year earlier. Over that period, BB&T completed acquisitions of Pennsylvania-based Susquehanna Bancshares and The Bank of Kentucky.

BB&T largely credited its acquisitions with pushing its net interest income to a record $1.56 billion in the quarter.

But the purchases also helped drive up expenses, which rose 9 percent. BB&T said those higher costs partly reflected the addition of approximately 3,600 employees through acquisitions.

“We are pleased to report record net interest income and solid overall performance for the first quarter,” CEO Kelly King said in a statement.

In the Charlotte region, BB&T is the third-largest bank by deposits.

BB&T’s shares fell less than 1 percent Thursday to $35.14 as major U.S. stock indexes slumped.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 12:03 PM with the headline "BB&T first-quarter profit rises 8 percent."