A Review of Bank Performance in the Fifth District, 1987

Bank profitability as measured by return on assets and return on equity declined in the Fifth Federal Reserve Disntrict in 1987 due largely to increased loan and lease loss provisions. Nationwide the profitability decline was considerably larger because the average loss provision greatly exceeded that in the Fifth District. These results should come as no surprise because of the well-publicized additions to reserves against Third World debt made by large banks both within and outside the District