Profits and Balance Sheet Developments at U.S. Commercial Banks in 2006
Figure 1. Bank profitability, 1990-2006. Data plotted as curves. The return on equity rises from about 7.3 percent in 1990 to about 15.3 percent in 1993, varies between about 13.5 percent and 15.5 percent through 2003, falls to about 13 percent in 2005, and then rises to 13.67 percent in 2006. The return on assets rises from about 0.5 percent in 1990 to about 1.2 percent in 1993, varies between 1.2 percent and 1.4 percent through 2005, and ends with a slight rise to 1.39 percent in 2006.
NOTE: The data are annual.