US--Banks-Earnings

BC-US--Banks-Earnings,0104

URGENT

Banks earn $914M in Q4

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- America’s banks eked out a small profit in the fourth quarter as the economy recovered, but the number of banks considered to be troubled jumped to more than 700, the government reports.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. says banks essentially broke even in the October-December period, earning $914 million, compared with a $37.8 billion loss in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The number of banks on the FDIC’s confidential “problem” list leaped to 702 from 552 in the third quarter, the FDIC says.

Most of the improvement in earnings was due to the largest banks, the FDIC says.

AP-WS-02-23-10 1001EST