Several banks — even smaller ones — show strength in managing assets

Among banks headquartered in the region, Englewood Bank & Trust and Charlotte State Bank & Trust — both Crews Banking Corp. subsidiaries — were the clear winners in the first quarter of 2019 based on returns generated, or a bank’s performance on its money.

Banks’ returns, or income, are typically evaluated against the size of the bank — that is, a larger bank ought to make more money than a small one. In order to normalize the comparison, analysts compare different banks’ returns to either assets, essentially the size of the bank’s loan portfolio, or equity, the capital invested by shareholders to support the bank’s business operations.