CIT’s post-bankruptcy momentum continues
CIT, the commercial lender that last year emerged from bankruptcy, yesterday reported quarterly profits that dwarfed analysts’ estimates.
The bank reported a second-quarter profit of $142.1m (£91.3m), or 71 cents a share. Analysts on average expected a profit of 33 cents a share.
Prior to the bankruptcy and a financial restructuring, CIT lost $1.68bn, or $4.30 a share, in the year-earlier period.
CIT said gains from asset sales and recoveries from written-off loans boosted its second-quarter profit, offsetting costs it reported related to an employee retention program and higher credit costs.
The New York-based company said it completed the sale of its Australia and New Zealand vendor business and it also sold about $580m in student lending receivables.
“We improved our funding flexibility, repaid higher cost debt, streamlined our portfolio and largely completed the build-out of our senior management team,” said chief executive John Thain.