First Citizens shares surge as SVB purchase boosts Q1 income

Investing.com -- First Citizens BancShares (NASDAQ:FCNCA) saw its stock surge by more than 8% on Wednesday after the North Carolina-based lender posted a sharp jump in first-quarter profit following its acquisition of much of collapsed peer Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

First Citizens took over all customer deposits and certain other assets and liabilities from California-based SVB in an FDIC-sponsored auction in March, turning itself into the 16th-biggest U.S. bank by asset size in the process. SVB's failure, which stemmed in part from a spike in customer withdrawals, triggered turmoil in the financial services sector that is still being felt across the industry.

Total deposits at the 125-year-old First Citizens spiked to $140.05 billion in the first quarter, up by 57% compared to the prior three-month period and topping Bloomberg consensus estimates of $118.98B. The increase was primarily linked to an influx of deposits from SVB worth $49.26B.

Loans on First Citizens' balance sheet climbed to $138.29B, an uptick of $67.51B versus the level reported on its books as of the end of last December. The yield on the firm's loans moved up to 5.57% from 5.10% in the previous quarter as well.

The added business from SVB helped push up net income for the January to March quarter to $9.52B - an over 30-fold gain against the final three months of last year.

"Since the completion of our acquisition [...] we have made strides to integrate our two companies, including meaningful engagement with key Silicon Valley Bank leaders and clients," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frank B. Holding, Jr. in a statement. "In an environment of macroeconomic challenges and uncertainties, we continue to operate with solid capital and liquidity positions."