Banking

U.S. commercial bank performance, as measured by aggregate return on average assets (ROAA), retreated slightly late in 2010 but was still an improvement over the prior year.

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The drop in ROAA came as continued declines in loan-loss provisions failed to offset both an increase in noninterest expenses and a decrease in revenues.

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Although occurring across all bank sizes, the decline in ROAA was most apparent among mid-tier (assets between $1 billion and $10 billion) and smaller (assets less than $1 billion) community banks. The share of banks losing money during the fourth quarter rose to just over 25 percent, which is up from the prior quarter but still well below the previous year.