Banks poised for consolidation. (Mergers and Acquisitions)

Banks Poised For Consolidation

State of the Industry: "Even though 1990 was a poor year for the banking industry, the industry was not as bad off as was commonly perceived. We tracked 245 bank holding companies of which roughly 83% reported profits last year. The net income for those banking companies was roughly $10 billion, and this resulted in a return on equity of about 7%. But if you exclude the 41 bank holding companies that reported losses, the return on equity was about 12%.

"In addition, there were 86 bank holding companies last year that had return on