Illinois banks saw their loan balances rise 6 percent in the second quarter to levels not seen since before the Great Recession.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. on Thursday reported financial results for the U.S. banking industry as a whole.
Looking at Illinois numbers, total loans on the books were a combined $221.3 billion as of June 30, up 6 percent from the same period last year.
The last time that loan balances at Illinois banks were that high was in June 2008, when they were $239.4 billion.
The report wasn’t without troubling news.
More than 11 percent of Illinois’ 536 banks remain unprofitable, though that’s down from one in four in 2009.
In a story published this week, SNL Financial, citing a banking industry analyst, said that, in coming years, the Chicago market could see more than 30 banks sell themselves to bigger players.
Combined, Illinois banks reported $1.5 billion in net income in the second quarter, up from $1.36 billion in the same period a year ago.
That marked its most profitable year since 2007.
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