Commercial and industrial loans continued to grow in the first quarter at U.S. banks and thrifts, hitting $2.052 trillion as of March 31, a new all-time high. Meanwhile, C&I delinquencies also improved, falling to 1.14% of C&I loans, down 4 basis points from the previous quarter and 40 basis points year over year.

Some banks struggled with delinquencies in the quarter, though. As of March 31, Texas-based Beal Financial Corp.'s 28.24% C&I delinquency ratio was the highest among banks and thrifts with more than $1 billion in C&I loans and represented a 16.8-percentage-point increase year over year.
Puerto Rico-based Popular Inc. and West Virginia-based United Bankshares had the second- and third-highest C&I delinquency ratios at 8.05% and 7.56%, respectively.


Citigroup Inc. added $8.87 billion in C&I loans during the first quarter, more than any other lender in the country. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. added $6.81 billion and $5.03 billion in C&I loans, respectively, while C&I loans at Bank of America Corp. fell $695.0 million during the first quarter.
Most of the largest banks also reported improving C&I credit quality. C&I delinquency at Wells Fargo fell 100 basis points year over year to 0.97%, while Morgan Stanley's C&I delinquency fell 170 basis points to 2.76%. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s ratio fell 153 basis points to 2.79%.
Did you enjoy this analysis? Click here to set up real-time alerts for data-driven articles on the U.S. financial sector. S&P Global compiles C&I data based on loans reported in call reports and in Form Y-9. Click here to see the aggregated data for commercial banks. |

