A bank with a large presence in North Carolina says it has recorded its first quarterly loss since the real estate crash more than 10 years ago.
Wells Fargo says it lost more than $2 billion in the second quarter of 2020. That marks its first quarterly loss since 2008. The company is also setting aside nearly $8.5 billion to cover potentially bad loans. That's more than double what it allocated for loss provisions the previous quarter.
It comes as the bank is getting hammered across all sections of its business by the coronavirus outbreak. Financial giants Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase have made similar moves. Bank executives say they underestimated the duration of the pandemic and how badly it has hurt the economy.
Wells Fargo has been a major part of the state's banking scene since acquiring Charlotte-based Wachovia in 2008 amid the recession.