Florida banks earn $18 million

Across Florida, 242 locally headquartered banking institutions earned a combined $18 million in net income in the first quarter of 2011, according to new data released this week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

In last year's first quarter, Florida banks lost $140 million. Since then, the industry has shrunk from 279 banks to its current total of 242, a net loss of 37 institutions.

In the first quarter of 2007, 308 banks earned a cumulative $337 million in profits, FDIC data show. Those 308 banks employed 35,168 full-time workers; today, Florida banking employment is down to 25,814.

Over the past four years, total Florida bank assets fell from $169 billion to $146 billion, a 14% drop. At the same time, combined other real estate owned (OREO) increased from $95 million to $2 billion.