Zions Slips After Missing Misses Earnings Expectations

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Zions Bancorp (ZION) fell 3% after missing earnings expectations. The company’s net interest income fell, and average loans barely inched ahead in the quarter.

Zions posted 30 cents of EPS, 3 cents below analysts’ expectations. The company said that 2011 was a difficult year in the lending market, but that the market appears to be righting itself. In the fourth quarter average loans grew 0.4%.

“Revenue growth was a challenge for us, as it was for the whole industry, in 2011.” said Chairman and CEO* Garris Simmons in a statement. “However, we see signs of stabilizing loan pricing, which with continued loan growth and improving credit quality should lead to improved results in 2012.”

The company also reported a decrease in its tangible common equity ratio, to 6.77% from 6.9% last quarter.



Original Article Source by Barrons.com