Colorado Springs-area banks put struggles behind, shift back to lending
By Wayne Heilman, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.) | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The improvement has allowed several local banks that had been struggling with loan problems to shift back into lending mode for the first time in several years, giving businesses more options to secure credit -- most likely at better interest rates than they would have gotten in recent years.
The improved loan numbers also could mean that fewer local banks will have to operate under restrictions that have limited the amount and types of lending they can do.
"It's a great time to be a borrower because you have so many healthy banks in the lending market," said
Loans classified as problems by federal regulators at the end of 2013 accounted for 2.51 percent of the
The
The improvement in loan quality also helped the banks' bottom line: Their combined earnings last year jumped 10.7 percent from 2012 to
In another key sign of the improving health of the local banking industry, the banks held capital reserves that accounted for 14.8 percent of their
The loan delinquency, profit and reserve data were compiled by The Gazette from reports the banks file quarterly with the
While local banks have largely cleaned up their loan portfolios, many are finding it difficult to add new loans because of the area's tepid and uneven economic growth, League said.
Although the local housing industry has staged a big comeback in the past few years, he said many other sectors of the
The lending market has become so competitive that the largest local financial institution,
"It is an incentive for our members to use our services," Emmer said. "The initial response to the program has been very positive, and we expect it will be a difference-maker in our market. We expect that many of our competitors will flatter us by imitating our program."
Much of the local industry's loan quality improvement was generated by
Academy, along with
"Last year was a milestone year for us," said
Holewinski said several factors helped
Pikes Peak National also cut its problem loans by 47.2 percent, to
Pikes Peak National CEO
"We have worked hard on lowering these (problem loan) numbers and are happy with our progress," Roberts said. "As a result, we were able to put fewer resources into working with problem borrowers and spend more resources on talking to local businesses and making loans."
Park State didn't make much progress on paper last year, but expects to "turn the corner" this year in cutting its problem loans by at least 40 percent and getting close to or at a break-even level, said
"We have a significant number of (problem loans) and foreclosed real estate in the pipeline to be resolved this year," Perry said. "For the first time since the financial crisis, we are in a business development mode and looking forward" instead of backward.
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CREDIT UNIONS MAKE 'STEADY' IMPROVEMENT
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