U.S. Bancorp profit rises 56% on lower credit-loss provision

By Laura Marcinek, Bloomberg

U.S. Bancorp, Minnesota's largest bank, said first-quarter profit rose 56 percent on lower credit costs.

Net income increased to $1.05 billion, or 52 cents a share, from $669 million, or 34 cents, in the same period a year earlier, the Minneapolis-based bank said in a statement today. The average estimate of 27 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for 49 cents. Credit-loss provisions declined 42 percent to $755 million from $1.31 billion.

U.S. Bancorp, run by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis, last month boosted its quarterly dividend 150 percent to 12.5 cents a share after the Federal Reserve didn't object to its proposed capital plan. The company also approved an authorization to repurchase as much as 50 million outstanding common shares.

"Our adherence to prudent underwriting and an improving economy resulted in significantly lower credit costs for the first quarter," Davis said in the statement.

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