The Wall Street Journal-20080115-Earnings Digest -- Financial Services- M-amp-T Bank Corp-
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Earnings Digest -- Financial Services: M&T Bank Corp.
M&T Bank Corp.'s fourth-quarter net income fell nearly 70%, as the bank wrote off nearly all of its collateralized debt obligations backed by subprime-residential securities. The Buffalo, N.Y., trust holding company said the latest results included charges of 71 cents a share related to the CDO impairment, 27 cents a share in credit-loss provisions, 13 cents a share for setting aside money for its portion of Visa International-related litigation judgments or settlements, and eight cents a share in acquisition costs. "We believe that our exposure to residential real estate has been appropriately provided for," said Chief Financial Officer Rene Jones. Regional banks have proven that no one -- not even those industries known for being risk averse -- is immune from the mortgage-related credit woes. Mr. Jones added that M&T's portfolio of home-equity lines of credit, an area of industrywide concern, "continues to perform well with low levels of delinquencies and charge-offs." M&T's credit-loss provision, a reserve to cover customer defaults or other bad credit, quadrupled to $101 million from $28 million a year earlier.
