Greater Cincinnati's three largest banks received more national attention last week, proving once again why they are among the industry's top-performing companies.
Provident Bancorp Inc., Star Banc Corp. and Fifth Third Bancorp were listed last week in The Wall Street Journal's ''Shareholder Scoreboard'' for great total return to shareholders. Only 38 firms of the 1,000 included in the scoreboard were listed on the honor roll.
A special section of the WSJ listed the banks' positive returns to investors:
Provident, 66.1 percent, one-year return; 35.2 percent, three-year return; 35.3 percent, five-year return; and 25 percent, 10-year return. The $6.8 billion bank received an ''A'' rating for its performance in each category.
Star, 58.3 percent, one-year return; 42.4 percent, three-year return; 33.9 percent, five-year return; and 22.5 percent, 10-year return. The $10.9 billion bank also received an ''A'' rating for its performance in each category.
Fifth Third, 31.1 percent, one-year return; 24.8 percent, three-year return; 18.1 percent, five-year return; and 24.4 percent, 10-year return. The $20 billion bank received a ''B'' rating for its one-year and three-year return, ''C'' rating for its five-year return and ''A'' rating for its 10-year return.
The publicity helps solidify industry analysts' arguments that Cincinnati is home to some of the nation's best-performing, well-managed and profitable banking companies.
Credit unions reject taxes-membership linkage
Federal credit unions aren't willing to sacrifice their tax-exempt status to retain the right to accept members from different companies, a top advocate for the credit unions said.
''There's no linkage between those issues,'' said David Chatfield, president of the California and Nevada Credit Union League in an interview with the Bloomberg Forum. ''There's no need or desire to compromise on either of those issues.''
Credit unions are fighting a fierce battle with banks over the ability of credit unions to accept members from groups that don't share a common bond with other members.
Credit unions say they need to attract new customers to offset attrition and to compete with banks, which are pressing for the right to diversify into securities and other fields.
Banks charge that credit unions are expanding into lines of business traditionally dominated by banks, in large part by using a billion-dollar tax subsidy to help finance an effort to offer better deals to customers.
Credit union representatives descended on Congress in the past week in an effort to gather support for a bill that would ensure that federal credit unions can include unrelated groups.
SBA picks KeyCorp as top business lender
KeyCorp, which has 29 offices in Greater Cincinnati, has been named the nation's top small-business lender for all commercial loans under $250,000, according to a national study by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.
The study ranked top bank holding companies primarily for total small-business loans outstanding. Cleveland-based KeyCorp ranked first for all commercial loans under $250,000 and all commercial loans under $100,000. Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank led for all small-business loans under $1 million.
According to SBA, here are the nation's bank holding companies that have the biggest portfolios of small-business loans under $250,000 at midyear 1996: KeyCorp, $3.825 billion; Wells Fargo, $3.4 billion; NationsBank, Charlotte, $3.1 billion; and Banc One, Columbus, $3 billion.
PNC Mortgage to sell stake in network
PNC Mortgage, a unit of PNC Bank Corp., has signed a deal for PNC Mortgage to sell its 50 percent interest in The Home Mortgage Network to HFS Inc. for an undisclosed amount.
The deal would give HFS sole ownership of The Home Mortgage Network. The network originated $1.1 billion in home loans in 1996.
