It has been a year of recovery for US banks, with significantly increased profits and profitability for many in 2021. The aggregate return on assets for US banks now stands at 1.27% compared to 0.72% last year, and aggregate return on equity at 13.57%, up from 7.42%.
Just nine out of the 186 US banks in the Top 1000 ranking saw smaller pre-tax profits this year than last, and only one of these – PNC Financial Services Group – is one of the US’s 10 largest banks. However, much of this boost in profits is due to the reduction or reversal in credit impairment charges.