Citizens back in black for 2011

By Michael Souza
PBN Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE – Citizens Financial Group Inc.’s largest division, RBS Citizens N.A., the holding company for most Citizens and Charter One banks, posted a $345.13 million profit in 2011. The figure is a stark contrast to the $39.17 million in losses it reported in 2010 and the $600.40 million loss in 2009.

According to figures provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Citizens’ assets stabilized in 2011. RBS Citizens’ total assets stood at $106.94 billion at the end of the year, as opposed to $107.84 billion a year earlier and $116.92 billion at the end of 2009.

The bank said it had $4.71 billion in interest and non-interest income for 2011, a 5.6 percent reduction from $4.99 billion the year before. Total deposits, however, increased 8 percent to $75.69 billion in 2011, compared with the $69.81 billion reported in 2010.

Helping to offset that drop in revenue in past years and build back the bank’s foundation was a reduction in money set aside to help absorb bad loans. Citizens put $1.47 billion into its loan-loss provision in 2010 but reduced that allotment to $815 million last year, an indicator of the improving credit quality in the bank’s loan portfolio.

Charge-offs, loans and leases that the bank has deemed uncollectable totaled $1.26 billion in 2011, a 32 percent improvement from the $1.85 billion reported in 2010. The bank recovered $193.75 million of these funds last year, a figure less than the $209.89 million it recovered in 2010.

Citizens Financial Group is owned by the British financial giant Royal Bank of Scotland Plc – which is 84 percent owned by the United Kingdom government. On Thursday, the bank reported a bigger-than-expected loss of $3.2 billion for 2011, partly because of its exposure to Greek government bonds.