Huntington Bank reports 1Q increase

April 20, 2017 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Columbus-based Huntington Bank reported a 21 percent year-over-year increase in the first quarter to $208 million.

“We had a good start to the year,” said William Shivers, president of Huntington’s Canton/Mahoning Valley Region. “We are encouraged by the start.”

The start included loan growth, deposit growth and overall growth for the bank with the conversion of FirstMerit Corp. branches to Huntington Bank branches.

Total loans and leases were $67 billion, up from $50.6 billion reported in the first quarter of 2016 – a $16.4 billion, or 32 percent increase. Commercial loans increased 36 percent, and consumer loans increased 28 percent.

Total deposits were $76 billion, which compares with $55.1 billion reported during the first quarter of 2016 – a $20.1 billion, or 39 percent, year-over-year increase. Huntington said the increase was driven by an increase in interest-bearing demand deposits, savings and other domestic deposits and noninterest-bearing demand deposits.

Huntington completed its FirstMerit branch conversion during the first quarter.

“It’s made us stronger,” Shivers said of the FirstMerit acquisition.

Huntington announced the merger with FirstMerit last January. The transaction was valued at $3.4 billion. The acquisition of FirstMerit added about $26.8 billion of total assets, $15.5 billion of total loans and leases, $21.2 billion of total deposits Akron-based FirstMerit had 340 banking offices in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to Huntington.

A total of 102 FirstMerit and Huntington locations were consolidated, and Huntington integrated more than 220 former FirstMerit branches into its portfolio. There are no FirstMerit locations in the Mahoning Valley.

Huntington is encouraged by the current state of consumer confidence.

“That certainly has been very strong in our part of the country,” said George Mokrzan, director of economics for Huntington.

Mokrzan noted the strengthening of the world economy has helped boost U.S. export growth and prices on exports despite the strength of the dollar.