US Bank Profits Tumble 44 Percent in Fourth Quarter 2023

Net interest margin, which measures bank profitability, declined in the last quarter.

Customers wait outside as an employee enters the Silicon Valley Bank branch office in downtown San Francisco, Calif., on March 13, 2023. Kori Suzuki/File Photo/Reuters

American banks saw their profits almost halve in the last quarter of 2023, with institutions facing more downside risk this year, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Fourth-quarter net profits of 4,587 commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the FDIC came in at $38.4 billion, a decline of $30 billion, or 43.9 percent from the previous quarter, according to a Thursday press release from the organization. Full-year 2023 net profit dropped by 2.3 percent from the previous year.