Daryl N. Bible, CFO, BB&T Corporation (BBT), Speaks at the BancAnalysts Association of Boston Conference

Insurance commissions are driving fee income growth at BB&T Corporation (BBT) and net interest margin is stabilizing, according to Daryl N. Bible, Chief Financial Officer of BB&T. He was speaking at the BancAnalysts Association of Boston’s 33rd annual fall conference, held at the Langham Hotel.

Bible said that the Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based bank expects insurance commission organic growth rate of 4% to 6% in 2015. BB&T offers insurance for retail commercial, employee benefits, personal, title, underwriting, MGA, life, MGU and wholesale brokerage. BB&T is the fifth-largest distributor of insurance products in the United States.

FOR THE LATEST TWST BANKING REPORT CLICK HERE.

However, its net interest margin for 3Q 2014 declined 5 bps versus 2Q 2014, attributed by Bible to lower yields on new loans and runoff of covered assets. Bible said the 4Q 2014 is expected to decline 3% to 5% bbs mainly due to covered asset runoff and changes in forecasted loan balances and yields. 4Q 2014 net interest income is expected to decline slightly versus 3Q 2014. But asset sensitivity improved slightly due to loan and deposit mix changes.

Excluding residential mortgages, BB&T loans grew at an 8.8% annualized rate versus 2Q 2014, with 6.3% growth in total commercial and 12.7% growth in direct retail, Bible said. But average total loan growth for the 4Q 2014 is expected to be down an annualized 1% to 2% due to a management decision to sell all conforming loans. Excluding mortgage loans, average loans at BB&T are expected to be up 1% to 2%.

BB&T added volume in deposits through a Texas branch acquisition from Citibank in June 2014. The acquisition included 41 branches, $2.3 billion of deposits and $87 million in loans in the Dallas, Houston, Midland and Odessa markets. The company has also added $1.8 billion in assets by acquiring the Bank of Kentucky, according to Bible.