BB&T reports higher third-quarter profit

BB&T Corp. said Thursday it made higher profit in the third quarter compared with a year ago, when the regional lender's earnings were lowered because of a tax dispute.

Winston-Salem-based BB&T said it earned $520 million in the quarter, up from $268 million in the same quarter last year.

In last year's third quarter, BB&T's earnings were impacted by $235 million it had to set aside for income taxes after a judge ruled against it in a tax case involving the Internal Revenue Service. The ruling came after the IRS had challenged BB&T on its use of foreign tax credits in a 2002 transaction.

BB&T said it would have made $503 million in profit in last year's third quarter if it hadn't had to set aside the $235 million.

In the recent third-quarter, BB&T made $2.32 billion in revenue, down slightly from $2.35 million in the same quarter last year.

“Our results for the third quarter were strong, with solid fee income, broad-based loan and core deposit growth, and continued improvement in credit quality,” CEO Kelly King said in a statement.