Regional banks rallied on Tuesday as better than expected quarterly results from several financial institutions sent the group higher. The Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) reported a 74 percent jump in first quarter profit, while Zions Bancorp (NSDQ: ZION) posted a smaller than expected loss for the first quarter.
Both stocks helped push the KBW Regional Banking ETF (NYSE: KRE) 1.6 percent higher on Tuesday.
Bank of New York Mellon posted a profit of $559 million or 46 cents a share, up from $322 million or 28 cents a share in the first quarter of last year.
Bank of New York Mellon also said revenue rose in the quarter to $2.56 billion, up 5 percent from $2.43 billion in the same quarter a year ago.
Zions Bancorp also reported improved results, posting a narrower loss of $86.5 million or 57 cents a share, compared to $852.3 million or $7.47 a share. The result was better than the loss of 95 cents a share predicted by analysts.
More importantly, provisions for loan losses are now falling at the regional banks as well as the big banks. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) both reported much lower loan loss provisions in the first quarter, a trend that Bank of New York Mellon and Zions confirmed with their quarterly reports.
Bank of New York Mellon said the provision for loan losses fell to $35 million in the first quarter, while Zions posted a $265.6 million first quarter loan loss provision, down 11 percent from last year.
The trend is a positive sign for banks, which have been writing billions in loan losses since the real estate market collapsed.
