PNC Financial Services recorded $1.4 billion of its $5.4 billion 2019 net income in the fourth quarter, according to its latest earnings report. The bank ended the year with more than $50 million in residential mortgage income than it did a year prior.
Average consumer lending balances increased $1.9 billion because of growth in residential mortgage, auto, credit card and unsecured installment loans partially offset by lower education loans, the report indicates.
Total loans grew $2.5 billion from the third to the fourth quarter and consumer lending balances increased $2.1 billion.
The company finished 2019 with $368 million in mortgage income, compared with $316 million at the conclusion of 2018. Although much lower than the bank’s third-quarter mortgage profit total ($134 million), PNC’s $87 million in fourth-quarter mortgage income was enough to make it the company’s second-strongest period of the year in that respect.
“PNC delivered excellent results in 2019 against the backdrop of continued change across our industry,” PNC Chairman and CEO Bill Demchak said in the company’s earnings report. “Earnings per share increased and we generated record revenue and positive operating leverage for the year. Expenses were well controlled and our efficiency ratio improved. We increased loans and deposits and leveraged our strong product set to grow clients in existing and new markets.”
Demchak noted that the company also made investments in developing its employees and their careers, as well as investments to support employees’ health, wellness and long-term financial well-being, such as a year-end employee award of an additional contribution to employee health savings accounts.
The bank’s fourth quarter 2019 average and period end loans increased $13 billion and $13.6 billion, respectively, compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, driven by overall growth in both commercial and consumer lending, the report states.