San Antonio based Cullen-Frost Bankers, which is the largest bank corporation based in Texas blew past analysts estimates in the second quarter, reporting income up 31% over the second quarter of 2017, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
CEO Phil Green said average deposits and average loans were also up.
“Our strong second-quarter earnings are the result of Frost bankers executing our strategy over the past several quarters,” Green said.
CFO Jerry Salinas gave a lot of credit to the strong Texas economy."The Texas economy continues to expand, amid a tight labor market, and historically low unemployment," Salinas said.
It was the second time in the firm's 150 year history that Cullen-Frost reported a $100 million profit in a quarter, the first coming in the first quarter of 2018.
Rising energy prices and continued growth in the Texas oil industry also helped push Frost's earnings higher.
"The Dallas Fed projects the 2018 Texas job growth at three percent," Salinas said, talking about the impact of the strong economy on the company's finances. "Based on that forecast, Texas shoudl add more than 370,000 new jobs in 2018."
Frost also announced a 67 cent per share dividend, payable September 14.