Retail Banking Earnings Increase For PNC, Report Shows

PNC Financial Services Group released its first-quarter earnings report Friday (April 16), showing an increase in retail banking along with an overall net income of $1.8 billion.

“PNC had a solid start to 2021,” Chairman, President and CEO Bill Demchak said in a statement, pointing to a growth in revenue, improved credit metrics and record levels of capital and liquidity.

Retail banking accounted for $607 million of PNC’s earnings in this quarter, more than three times as much as the bank’s retail earnings from Q1 of 2020, and up from $336 million in the fourth quarter.

Average retail banking loans were $77.6 billion in this quarter — down from $81.4 billion in the first quarter of last year — while average retail banking deposits rose to $208.2 billion, from $173 billion this time last year.

Among the other findings in the report, average deposits increased by 4 percent compared to the fourth quarter and by 20 percent compared to last year’s first quarter, due to a rise in demand deposits and savings that reflect government stimulus payments and a drop in consumer spending, something that was offset somewhat by lower certificates of deposit. In addition, deposits via ATMs and mobile channels accounted for 66 percent of deposit transactions in both the first quarter of this year and the last quarter of 2020, compared to 59 percent in 2020’s first quarter.

Denkman said “considerable progress” has been made on PNC’s acquisition of the American division of Spain’s BBVA, a deal expected to close at the middle of the year, although the report does point to “risks and uncertainties” associated with the move.

As PYMNTS reported in February, this deal is part of a larger trend of consolidation among regional lenders, with Huntington Bancshares merging with TCF Financial Corp, FirstCitizens BancShares merging with CIT Group and M&T Bank planning to acquire People’s United.