The nation’s 13,347 banks earned $10 billion...

The nation’s 13,347 banks earned $10 billion during the first six months of 1988, despite a $2.93-billion loss by Texas’ troubled banking industry, Sheshunoff Information Services of Austin, Tex., said. The six-month gain contrasted with a loss of $5.5 billion during the final six months of 1987. Nationwide, 11,570--or 87% of the nation’s banks--were profitable before extraordinary items. Of the 1,777 unprofitable banks, 790 were in the Southwest.