Reply #55: SunTrust profit sinks 98 pct [View All]

[UpInArms]

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN2360369820080123

NEW YORK (Reuters) - SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a large U.S. southeast regional bank, on Wednesday said fourth-quarter earnings tumbled a larger-than-expected 98 percent, hurt by a tripling of credit losses and a bailout of money market mutual funds.

Net income for the Atlanta-based bank fell to $11.1 million from $506.3 million a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Profit per share fell to 1 cent from $1.39.

Analysts on average expected profit of 22 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell 15 percent to $1.74 billion, the filing shows, below the average forecast of $1.91 billion.

Results suffered from "rapid deterioration of the residential real estate market, the change in the credit cycle and consumer credit quality, and the resulting impact on liquidity in the financial markets," Chief Executive James Wells said in a statement.

SunTrust is the last of the 10 largest U.S. commercial banks to report fourth-quarter results. All suffered declines in operating earnings or lost money, topped by Citigroup Inc's (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) $9.83 billion loss.

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