Comerica Inc. on Oct. 16 reported third-quarter net income attributable to common shares of $316 million, or $1.86 per share, up from net income of $224 million, or $1.26 per share, in the same quarter of the prior year.

The S&P Global Market Intelligence consensus mean estimate for third-quarter GAAP EPS was $1.75.

Net interest income increased to $599 million from $546 million, boosted by the net benefit from higher short-term rates.

Total loans stood at $49.01 billion, compared with $49.79 billion in the second quarter and $49.21 billion in the third quarter of 2017.

The company did not post any credit loss provision for the quarter, versus $24 million from the same quarter in 2017. Provision for income taxes decreased to $63 million from $108 million year over year.

Total deposits were $56.01 billion, compared with $57.21 billion in the linked quarter and $57.82 billion in the year-ago period. The year-over-year decline in deposits was attributed to a $1.9 billion decrease in noninterest-bearing deposits, offset by a $1.5 billion increase in interest-bearing deposits.

Dallas-based Comerica provided its fourth quarter 2018 outlook, which assumes a continuation of the current economic and rate environment as well as the benefits from the company's GEAR Up initiative. The company expects average loans to be stable with a positive trend and expects continued growth in net interest income partly due to rising short-term interest rates. The company also projects $10 million to $20 million provision for credit losses and expects net charge-offs to remain low.

In addition, noninterest income is expected to be relatively stable, excluding securities losses, bank-owned life insurance and deferred compensation asset returns. Noninterest expenses are expected to be modestly higher, excluding approximately $10 million of restructuring charges.