First Citizens BancShares continued reaping the rewards of its strategy to acquire failing banks with government support.
The Raleigh-based corporate parent of First Citizens Bank said today second-quarter earnings soared to $28.6 million, compared to $6.2 million during the same three-month period last year.
Per share income for the second quarter was $2.74 compared to 59 cents a year earlier.
The company attributed the growth to an increase in loans and investment securities.
First Citizens has acquired a number of smaller banks that had been taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Those deals help boost results without much risk, since the FDIC agrees to assume much of any loan losses.
First Citizens' subsidiaries First Citizens Bank and IronStone Bank have 443 branch offices nationwide. The parent corporation has total assets of $21.1 billion.
First Citizens' shares rose $1.46 to close at $196.00 today. The stock is up 45 percent in the past year.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or