Louisiana Banks

Louisiana banks' return on assets reached 1.17% in Q1 2026, up 8 basis points from Q4 2025 and up 7 basis points year-over-year from 1.10% in Q1 2025, marking the highest ROA in the series shown. QoQ the gain was 8 basis points; YoY, 7 basis points. The trend is stable and improving at a consistent pace across both timeframes. Louisiana banks now trail the national ROA of 1.20% by just 3 basis points, the narrowest gap in the series.

Net interest margin held stable at 4.12% in Q1 2026, up just 1 basis point QoQ from 4.11% but up 14 basis points YoY from 3.97%. The QoQ stability masks a YoY expansion story: Louisiana banks' NIM at 4.12% sits 30 basis points above the national 3.82%, a material advantage. The efficiency ratio improved to 68.77% from 68.99% QoQ (down 0.22 percentage points) and from 71.06% YoY (down 2.29 percentage points), the largest YoY improvement in the series. Despite the progress, Louisiana banks remain 4.63 percentage points above the national efficiency ratio of 64.14%, indicating higher operating costs per dollar of revenue. The ROA improvement is mechanically driven by the NIM advantage (30 basis points above national) offsetting the efficiency drag (4.63 percentage points above national), with the efficiency ratio's 2.29 percentage point YoY decline providing the incremental lift.

Specialization patterns within the Louisiana cohort show Credit Card specialists posting outsized NIM at 13.80%, 9.99 percentage points above the national 3.82%, and efficiency at 54.43%, 9.71 percentage points below national—a rare combination of margin expansion and cost discipline. Mortgage specialists lag with efficiency at 76.96%, 12.81 percentage points above national, the widest gap in the detected-stories block. Agricultural specialists show efficiency at 59.51%, 4.63 percentage points below national, outperforming the state average. If the efficiency ratio continues its current YoY pace of improvement (2.29 percentage points per year), Louisiana banks converge to the national 64.14% by mid-2027.

Louisiana banks' asset growth accelerated to 4.77% in Q1 2026, up from 4.70% in Q4 2025 (up 1.47 percentage points) and up from 4.68% in Q1 2025 (up 1.94 percentage points year-over-year), marking the fastest pace in the series shown. QoQ the acceleration was 1.47 percentage points; YoY, 1.94 percentage points. The trend is accelerating modestly across both timeframes. Louisiana banks trail the national asset growth rate of 5.15% by 38 basis points, a stable gap.

Loan growth accelerated sharply to 4.02% from 3.32% QoQ (up 20.89 percentage points) but decelerated YoY from 4.85% to 4.02% (down 17.14 percentage points). Deposit growth also accelerated to 4.78% from 4.29% QoQ (up 11.65 percentage points) but decelerated YoY from 6.04% to 4.78% (down 20.85 percentage points). The QoQ acceleration in both loan and deposit growth indicates a strong Q1 2026, but the YoY deceleration in both metrics signals a cooling from the elevated pace of Q1 2025. Mechanically, deposit growth at 4.78% continues to outpace loan growth at 4.02%, compressing the loan-to-deposit ratio by 0.71 percentage points QoQ and 1.11 percentage points YoY. Louisiana banks are accumulating deposits faster than they are deploying loans, building liquidity buffers but signaling cautious lending appetite. Asset growth at 4.77% trails the national 5.15% by 38 basis points, loan growth at 4.02% trails the national 6.20% by 2.18 percentage points, and deposit growth at 4.78% trails the national 5.02% by 23 basis points—Louisiana banks are underperforming the national pace on all three growth vectors.

The growth posture is mixed: Louisiana banks posted strong QoQ acceleration in Q1 2026 but are decelerating YoY from the elevated Q1 2025 base. The 105 Louisiana banks trail national growth benchmarks across assets, loans, and deposits, with the widest gap on loan growth at 2.18 percentage points below national. The QoQ acceleration in loan growth (up 20.89 percentage points from 3.32% to 4.02%) is the largest move in the series, suggesting Q4 2025 was an anomalous trough rather than a new baseline. If loan growth sustains its Q1 2026 pace of 4.02%, Louisiana banks remain below the national 6.20% but above the state's Q4 2025 low of 3.32%.

Louisiana banks' delinquency rate rose to 1.27% in Q1 2026, up 6 basis points from 1.21% in Q4 2025 and down 5 basis points year-over-year from 1.32% in Q1 2025. The QoQ increase marks the first quarterly rise in the series shown after three consecutive declines. YoY the delinquency rate improved modestly, but at 1.27% Louisiana banks remain 57 basis points above the national 0.70%, the widest gap in the risk metrics. QoQ the deterioration was 6 basis points; YoY the improvement was 5 basis points, indicating a mixed trajectory—worsening in the near term but better than a year ago.

Non-performing assets climbed to 1.03% from 0.97% QoQ (up 7 basis points) and held stable YoY at 1.03% (up just 0.4 basis points). Louisiana banks' NPA ratio at 1.03% sits 53 basis points above the national 0.51%, a material elevation. Tier 1 capital declined to 14.56% from 14.62% QoQ (down 6 basis points) and from 14.65% YoY (down 9 basis points), marking the second consecutive quarterly decline in the series shown. Despite the erosion, Louisiana banks maintain a 30 basis point cushion above the national 14.26%, indicating the industry remains well-capitalized. The QoQ rise in delinquency and NPA, paired with the capital decline, signals modest near-term risk accumulation. Mechanically, the delinquency increase of 6 basis points QoQ and the NPA increase of 7 basis points QoQ are consistent—problem loans are migrating into non-accrual status. The YoY delinquency improvement of 5 basis points suggests the Q1 2026 uptick is episodic rather than a new trend, but the elevated gap above national (57 basis points on delinquency, 53 basis points on NPA) remains Louisiana's defining risk challenge.

Specialization patterns show Credit Card specialists posting delinquency at 2.57%, 1.87 percentage points above the national 0.70%, the highest in the detected-stories block. Agricultural specialists show delinquency at 0.63%, 7 basis points below national, outperforming the state average. Commercial banks, representing 56.1% of the Louisiana cohort, show delinquency at 0.72%, 2 basis points above national, close to the national benchmark. The risk profile is worsening QoQ but stable YoY, with elevated delinquency and NPA well above national benchmarks offset by a capital cushion 30 basis points above national. If delinquency continues its current QoQ pace of increase (6 basis points per quarter), Louisiana banks reach 1.39% by Q4 2026, further widening the gap above national.

Louisiana banks' loan-to-deposit ratio fell to 75.16% in Q1 2026, down 0.71 percentage points from Q4 2025 and down 1.11 percentage points year-over-year, marking the fourth consecutive quarterly decline in the series shown. The ratio now sits 1.21 percentage points below the national benchmark of 76.38%. QoQ the compression was modest at 0.71 percentage points; YoY it widened to 1.11 percentage points, indicating a persistent trend of deposit accumulation outpacing loan deployment.

The composition of the move is clear: deposit growth accelerated to 4.78% in Q1 2026 from 4.29% in Q4 2025 (up 11.65 percentage points), while loan growth also accelerated to 4.02% from 3.32% (up 20.89 percentage points). Despite the QoQ acceleration in both, the YoY picture shows deposit growth decelerating from 6.04% to 4.78% (down 20.85 percentage points) and loan growth decelerating from 4.85% to 4.02% (down 17.14 percentage points). Mechanically, deposit growth at 4.78% continues to outpace loan growth at 4.02%, compressing the loan-to-deposit ratio and building liquidity buffers. Noninterest-bearing deposit share rose to 23.84% from 23.36% QoQ (up 0.48 percentage points), though down 0.36 percentage points YoY from 24.20%, remaining 2.24 percentage points above the national 21.60%. Net interest income as a percentage of revenue fell sharply to 0.11% from 0.55% QoQ (down 0.43 percentage points), though stable YoY at 0.14% (down just 2 basis points), sitting 21 basis points below the national 0.32%.

The engagement posture is mixed: Louisiana banks are accumulating deposits faster than they are deploying loans, building liquidity but signaling cautious lending appetite. The noninterest-bearing share at 23.84% remains above national, a deposit-franchise strength, but the sharp QoQ drop in net interest income as a share of revenue (from 0.55% to 0.11%) suggests episodic volatility in fee income or noninterest revenue mix. The 1.21 percentage point gap below national loan-to-deposit ratio is stable QoQ and widening YoY, indicating Louisiana banks are not aggressive lenders relative to the national universe.