M&T first-quarter profit rise 15%

First-quarter profit at M&T Bank, in which AIB holds a 24 per cent stake rose 15 per cent, as a gain from Visa Inc's initial…

First-quarter profit at M&T Bank, in which AIB holds a 24 per cent stake rose 15 per cent, as a gain from Visa Inc's initial public offering helped offset rising credit costs.

Net income for the Buffalo, New York-based company, which counts Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway among its largest shareholders, increased to $202.2 million, or $1.82 per share, from $176 million, or $1.57, a year earlier, the bank said today.

Operating earnings also increased 15 per cent, to $215.6 million, or $1.94 per share, M&T said.  Results included a 26 cents per share gain tied to Visa's initial public offering last month.

Analysts on average expected profit of $1.55 per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

M&T set aside $60 million for bad loans, more than double the year-earlier $27 million. Net charge-offs rose to $46 million from $17 million, hurt by a downturn in residential real estate.

Nonperforming assets increased 81 per cent to $495 million, largely stemming from residential real estate loans and loans to residential real estate builders and developers.

M&T said it has $66.1 billion in assets and more than 700 branches in seven mid-Atlantic states and Washington, DC.