M&T Bank Corp, the first large US bank to report fourth-quarter results, said today that profit tumbled 70%, hurt by debt write-downs and turmoil in residential property markets.
The bank, in which AIB has a 24% stake, said net income fell to $64.9m, or 60 cents per share, from $213.3m, or $1.88, a year earlier.
Operating profit totaled 77 cents per share, the bank said. Analysts on average expected profit of $1.85 per share.
M&T was one of the few large US banks that had not in the last two months specifically cautioned investors how credit and mortgage market turmoil would hurt fourth-quarter results.
The company reduced profit by $78m, or 71 cents per share, to write down collateralised debt obligations, and by $29 million, or 27 cents per share, for credit losses.
Earnings were also reduced 13 cents per share for M&T's share of anti-trust litigation involving credit card network Visa, and 8 cents per share for acquisitions.
M&T Bank said it has $64.9 billion in assets and more than 650 branches in seven mid-Atlantic states and Washington, DC
Its results may foreshadow those at other large US banks, most of which are to report by the middle of next week. Nearly all are expected to report lower profits, or losses.
