TEXAS BANKS FAIRING BETTER THAN OTHERS

AUSTIN (Austin American Statesman) – Texas banks are in better condition than others across the nation, according to a new report from Sheshunoff & Co. Investment Banking, an Austin-based financial industry consulting firm.

Compared with the national median on several key measures of bank health, Texas institutions have been more profitable and had stronger asset quality and healthier levels of capital, said John Blaylock, associate director of Sheshunoff. Those higher levels of capital, combined with a lower level of bad assets than banks nationwide, have given Lone Star banks more money to absorb losses in this recession.
The report said Texas banks are well diversified, doing significant business in energy, health care and agriculture, all of which have fared better than most other sectors.

Texas banks’ profitability declined from the first quarter to 0.69 percent in the second but was still higher than the national average of 0.49 percent.

Profitability levels have been rising for Austin-based banks since third quarter 2008 and hit 0.74 percent in the second quarter of this year. Area banks have been buoyed by the economic activity that revolves around the University of Texas and the state government.

Banks in the Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston areas had returns on average assets below the national median.