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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowShares of Old National Bancorp shot up more than 8 percent this morning after the Evansville bank reported that first-quarter profit increased 81 percent.
Old National said it earned $19.3 million, or 29 cents per share – more than double the 14 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
The bank, which has several branches in Indianapolis, attributed the improvement to moves it launched in early 2007 to restructure its balance sheet, cut workers and close branches.
The changes led the bank to take a $7.7 million pretax charge in the first quarter of 2007, depressing those results.
In the latest quarter, the bank bumped up its provision for loan losses by $17 million. However, it also benefited from a favorable tax ruling and other gains.
The bank reported in early April that it was boosting loan reserves because it had discovered that a former loan officer in the Indianapolis area had falsified loan documents.
Old National said at the time that the FBI is investigating the incident, and that actual losses to the bank might be negligible, depending on the extent to which it can collect from the loans.
Old National today reaffirmed its 2008 profit outlook of $1.13 per share to $1.19 per share.
The bank’s stock was trading at midday at $17.17, up $1.37, or 8.7 percent.
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