U.S. Bancorp profit rises 18% on loan quality, higher revenue

U.S. Bancorp, the top performer in the KBW Bank Index for the past 12 months, posted its 11th straight year-over-year increase in quarterly profit as fewer bad loans and increased revenue helped drive results higher.

Second-quarter profit climbed 18 percent to $1.42 billion, or 71 cents a share, from $1.2 billion, or 60 cents, a year earlier, the Minneapolis-based bank said today in a statement. The average estimate of 31 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was profit of 70 cents.

U.S. Bancorp was one of only three firms in the 24-company KBW Bank Index to produce positive returns for shareholders during the quarter. Chief Executive Officer Richard Davis, 54, has credited his strategy of running a “boring” bank that takes deposits and makes loans while avoiding volatile businesses such as investment banking.

“We achieved growth in virtually every fee category this period versus the prior quarter,” Davis said today in the statement. “Expenses were well-controlled, and we achieved positive operating leverage on both a year-over-year and linked quarter basis.”

U.S. Bancorp is the biggest regional U.S. bank by assets, operating in 25 states as of midyear, and ranks fifth by deposits among commercial U.S. lenders. The firm’s shares have climbed 22 percent this year, compared with an 18 percent gain in the 24-company KBW Bank Index.