Alaska state banks--select metric trends.

AuthorCox, William
PositionAlaska Trends

Alaska Trends, an outline of significant statewide statistics, is provided by the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development.

In light of the high number of bank foreclosures, numbering 73 so far in 2011, according to the Washington Post, and the high visibility of seemingly ever-evolving new banking regulations how are Alaska banks performing? This month, Alaska Trends focused on Alaska state banks, those which are chartered by the State of Alaska, including De nali State Bank, First Bank, Northrim Bank and Mt. McKinley Bank.

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As shown in the chart, many of the metrics Alaska Business Monthly tracks each month have changed very little during the last three-and-one-half years; specifically total bank assets, total bank liabilities, net loans and leases, and total bank deposits. None of these metrics have changed either positively or negatively more than 8 percent since the first quarter of 2008. Within these figures, the total assets and total liabilities seemed to move closely together, with assets increasing 8 percent and liabilities increasing 6.5 percent since the beginning of 2008.

Notably, the change in noninterest-bearing deposits far outpaced that of interest-bearing deposits with the former increasing 88.1 percent and the later decreasing 13.8 percent. The large increase in the noninterest-bearing deposits is most likely due to business deposits; individual customer deposits are interest-bearing. One explanation could be that businesses are continuing to increase their reserves until they feel more certain about the turbulent economy; another possible explanation could be that businesses have increased their efficiencies and costs and are simply more profitable. There are other feasible explanations for the large increase in noninterest-bearing deposits and it will be interesting to watch this trend evolve over time.

Chart Source: State of Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development

(ALASKA TRENDS Indicator Units Period GENERAL Personal Income--Alaska US$ 1st Q11 Personal Income--United States US$ 1st Q11 Consumer Prices--Anchorage 1982-1984= 100 1st H11 Consumer Prices--United States 1982-1984 =100 1st H11 Bankruptcies Alaska Total Number Filed July Anchorage Total Number Filed July Fairbanks Total Number Filed July EMPLOYMENT Alaska Thousands July Anchorage & Mat-Su Thousands July Fairbanks Thousands July Southeast Thousands July Gulf Coast Thousands July Sectoral...

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