Bank earnings lowest since 2003

In the third quarter, net income at banks insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. fell to less than $30 billion for the first time since early 2003. FDIC-insured institutions reported net income of $28.7 billion for the third quarter, a decline of $9.4 billion or 24.7 percent from the third quarter of 2006. The FDIC said bad mortgage loans were partially to blame, but loan delinquency and loss rates were up “across all major loan categories” during the quarter.