Ninth district banks to earn more or as much year over year in 2015

Banks in the district of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – which covers Minnesota, the Dakotas, western Wisconsin, Montana and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan — are likely to see profits increase in 2015, said Ron Feldman, executive vice president of Supervision, Regulation and Credit at the Minneapolis Fed in his 2015 forecast on March 6..Minnesota banks, he said, are likely to do well across key measures for earnings, loan growth and asset quality in 2015. "I expect moderate improvement in profitability, returning to — or possibly surpassing — long-run norms for the first time since the crisis," he said..Loan growth for banks in Minnesota is expected to be between 5.6 percent and 9.6 percent, slightly better than the 2014 pace and above historic norms, Feldman said..Banks in South Dakota are forecast to see profits inch upward in 2015, but otherwise conditions will look much the same as in 2014, Feldman said. "The pace of loan growth is forecast to decline slightly to between 6.3 percent and 10.3 percent year-over-year, still above the state's historical norm," he said..North Dakota banks are likely to see relatively little change in their strong performance in 2015, Feldman said. "Performance should soften a bit from very strong levels and growth, given recent weakness in the energy and agricultural sectors," he said. "I see bank profits moving up just a little in 2015, with little change in the level of problem loans and a potential for a small fall in loan growth.".For the 55 banks in western Wisconsin, profits are expected to improve moderately in 2015. Loan growth was very strong in western Wisconsin in 2014, Feldman said, as banking conditions returned to normal. "We expect that performance to be reflected in better profitability in the coming year," he said. "Loan growth and problem loans should continue at better-than-normal levels in 2015.".Montana banks are likely to see a strong performance in 2015, Feldman said. "Thanks to the performance of the Montana economy and a return to more normal banking performance, we expect strong profits, a continuation of favorable loan growth and [favorable levels] of problem loans," he said.