BB&T reported record quarterly earnings for Q4/14 of $557 million, up 3.7% from $537 million earned in Q4/13. For the full year, net income available to common shareholders totaled $2.0 billion for 2014, resulting in an EPS of $2.75, up more than 25% compared to last year.

Highlights from the news release on Q4/14 vs Q4/13 included:

• BB&T’s return on average tangible common shareholders’ equity was 15.57% for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to 17.91% for the earlier quarter.
• Revenues were $2.4 billion for Q4/14, essentially flat compared to the earlier quarter as a decrease in taxable-equivalent net interest income of $26 million was largely offset by a $19 million increase in noninterest income.
• Net interest margin was 3.36%, down 20 basis points compared to the earlier quarter.
• Average earning assets increased $6.5 billion, or 4.2%. The annualized yield on the total loan portfolio for the fourth quarter was 4.30%, a decrease of 34 basis points compared to the earlier quarter, which primarily reflects lower yields on new loans and continued runoff of higher yielding loans acquired from the FDIC.

“We are pleased to report record net income for the fourth quarter and full year 2014,” said chairman and CEO Kelly S. King. “These results were driven by very good expense control and strong performances from our mortgage banking, insurance and investment banking and brokerage businesses, which drove noninterest income to exceed $1 billion for the quarter.”

“We also enjoyed across the board improvement in credit quality with annualized net charge-offs amounting to 0.39% of loans, well below our normalized range of 50 to 70 basis points,” said King. “Delinquent loans continued to fall as early stage delinquencies declined $23 million and those 90 or more days past due dropped $33 million.

“During the fourth quarter, we sold approximately $140 million of residential mortgage loans, most of which were nonperforming, at an after-tax gain of $24 million. Overall credit quality is at its best level in seven years,” King added.

“In November, we announced an agreement to acquire Susquehanna Bancshares, an exciting opportunity and an attractive extension of our mid-Atlantic footprint into growing and diverse markets. The acquisition will add 245 retail branches with approximately $13.6 billion in deposits and $18.6 billion in assets,” said King.

To view the full BB&T news release, click here.