Georgia banks as a whole were profitable for the second quarter of 2011, the first time in nearly three years the industry has had a positive result in the state.
While individual banks returned to profitability earlier, the state's banks were last profitable cumulatively in the third quarter of 2008.
Georgia's 251 banks posted cumulative profits of $240.5 million, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., up from a $90 million loss in the first quarter of the year and a $754.2 million loss in the second quarter a year ago, when there were 283 institutions.
At the Georgia Bankers Association, senior vice president David Oliver called the return to profitability an "encouraging sign."
"They're continuing to stabilize, they're continuing to improve overall," he said. "Profitable banks are healthy banks."
Indeed, the percent of profitable institutions increased from a year ago, to 58.96 percent of the state's banks from 50.18 percent. The ratio of noncurrent loans -- those 90 days or more past due -- and leases to total leases is down, to 5.11 percent from 5.96 percent a year ago.
But Georgia -- which has had 17 bank failures this year and 68 since the middle of 2008 -- is lagging the rest of the country in terms ofprofitability.
In the U.S., 84.39 percent of banks were profitable for the quarter, up from 79.09 percent a year ago. Nationwide, the cumulative second-quarter profits totaled $28.8 billion, a $7.9 billion increase since last year.
Additionally, the nation's troubled bank list has fallen for the first time in 19 quarters, to 865 from 888.
At Georgia banks, total deposits shrank by 1.7 percent, to $212.5 billion, and total assets were down 3.1 percent, to $266 billion.
The banks had improvements in other categories. Other real estate owned by Georgia banks -- foreclosed properties -- fell by 13.1 percent and nonperforming assets were 4.64 percent of total assets, down from 5.45 percent a year ago.
Oliver said more people are able to pay their loans on time, and the nonpayment figures are the lowest they have been since the first quarter of 2009.
"There continues to be a trend that more borrowers are able to make payments on time," he said.
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