Florida hits SunTrust bottom line

Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks had to boost its loan loss reserves and took a charge that led to a first-quarter loss of $2.49 a share, and the performance of its Florida loans was a big factor. Of SunTrust’s $16.5 billion portfolio of home equity loans, it had $6.38 billion in Florida. The bank logged $196 million of the Florida loans as nonperforming on March 31. The state accounted for 61 percent of SunTrust’s nonperforming home equity loans. The company’s stock has dropped 72 percent in the last year.