Harris H. Simmons, Chairman and CEO of Zions Bancorporation, commented, “We’re very pleased with the quarterly results, as earnings per share, excluding net equity investment gains, increased 10% to $1.74, compared to $1.58 in the same period a year ago. Net equity investment gains of $215 million on Visa Class B-1 shares and $37 million on SBIC investments added $1.12 and $0.19 per share, respectively, compared to net equity investment gains of $9 million, or $0.05 per share a year ago.”
Mr. Simmons continued, “We’re particularly pleased with the organic growth in customer-related noninterest income, which increased 11% over last year’s period, with particularly strong growth from capital markets activities, and solid growth in a variety of other categories. While loan growth compared to last year’s quarter was modest at 3%, annualized linked-quarter growth was strong at 8%. Deposits grew 4% from last year and were seasonally lower compared to the first quarter.”
Mr. Simmons concluded, “We’re also encouraged by strong growth in tangible book value per share, which increased 22% to $44.74 from $36.81, while our Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio further strengthened to 11.8% from 11.0% a year ago. At the same time, we’re proud of our ongoing solid credit results, with annualized net charge-offs of 0.06%.”