April 15 (Reuters) - PNC Financial posted an 18% jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, buoyed by the acquisition of regional lender FirstBank and strong loan growth.
The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based bank finalized the $4.1 billion acquisition of FirstBank in January, adding $26 billion in assets and strengthening its presence in Colorado and Arizona.
Loan demand has also perked up across the industry in recent months, as a string of rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve encourages customers
to take on more debt.
PNC's net interest income, the difference between what a bank earns on loans and pays out on deposits, jumped 14% to $3.96 billion in the quarter from a year earlier, benefiting from the FirstBank acquisition, commercial loan growth and lower deposit costs.
Net interest margin, a key measure of how profitably a bank lends, expanded 17 basis points to 2.95%.
Total loans surged 13% from a year earlier to $360.9 billion.
"2026 is off to a great start for PNC. During the first quarter, we... generated strong legacy loan growth. Client activity remains robust across all our geographies," PNC CEO Bill Demchak said.
Fee income was also a bright spot, jumping 13% from a year earlier, driven by broad-based growth across businesses.
Capital markets and advisory revenue surged 51% to $463 million in the quarter, reflecting stronger dealmaking and trading.
Quarterly profit was $1.77 billion, or $4.13 per share, compared with $1.50 billion, or $3.51 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding FirstBank integration costs, PNC recorded an adjusted profit of $4.32 per share during the quarter.
Buybacks, which PNC has been ramping up, were nearly $700 million in the three months ended March 31. The bank expects roughly $600 million to $700 million of buybacks in the second quarter.
The stock has climbed roughly 6% so far this year.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda)
