Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. regional bank Fifth Third Bancorp on Tuesday reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by higher interest income as loan demand picked up.
Stable economic growth, a string of Federal Reserve rate cuts and easing concerns over the impact of tariffs have lifted sentiment across the U.S. economy, prompting households and businesses to step up borrowing.
Lower financing costs reduce the interest borrowers have to pay on new and existing loans, making credit more affordable.
Fifth Third's net interest income, the difference between what banks pay on pays on deposits and earns as interest on loans, rose 6% to $1.53 billion. Its total loans grew 5%.
The lender's wealth and asset management revenue jumped 13% to record $185 million in the fourth quarter, while its commercial payments revenue rose 8%.
Fifth Third's assets under management jumped about 16% to $80 billion.
However, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based bank's capital markets fees fell 2% to $121 million, driven by lower loan syndications revenue.
"In 2025, we opened 50 branches in our high-growth Southeast markets," Fifth Third CEO Tim Spence said.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Federal Reserve approved Fifth Third's acquisition of Comerica, an all-stock deal worth $10.9 billion that was announced in October.
The bank's net interest margin, which measures the profitability of lending operations, increased to 3.13% from 2.97%, a year earlier.
The net income available to common shareholders rose to $699 million, or $1.04 per share, in the three months ended December 31, compared with $582 million, or 85 cents per share, a year earlier.
Shares of Fifth Third gained 10.7% in 2025, lagging KBW Banking Index.
(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)
