Fifth Third Bancorp, Ohio’s largest lender, had its outlook revised to positive from stable by Standard & Poor’s, which said the bank’s credit quality continues to improve.
The revision is attributed to the bank’s “improved” financial condition related to asset quality, capital and earnings, S&P said Wednesday in a statement. Cincinnati-based Fifth Third has had lower levels of net charge-offs during the past three quarters and its financial condition is supported by “strong” pretax, pre-provision earnings, according to the statement. S&P kept the lender’s credit rating at BBB.
“We expect Fifth Third to record higher-than-normal credit costs through 2011 but believe that these should be manageable,” S&P said in the statement. “If asset quality does not continue to improve or if earnings or capital materially weaken, then we may revise the outlook to stable or negative.”
Fifth Third rose 1.5 percent to $10.62 at 4:15 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have fallen 28 percent this year.
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