“It’s clear that the nation’s commercial banks and thrifts will continue to face some challenges in the months ahead, but Oklahoma banks remain strong,” said Marty Hansen, chairman of the Oklahoma Bankers Association.

A growing number of troubled loans, falling asset values and a special assessment to cover deposit insurance premiums contributed to a net loss of $3.7 billion among all U.S. commercial banks and savings institutions during the three months ending June 30, according to the report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Oklahoma banks posted a second-quarter profit of $346 million. Just 16 of Oklahoma’s 247 banks (6.5 percent) were unprofitable in the second quarter. Nationally, more than one of every four banks (26.5 percent) failed to turn a profit, the FDIC reported.

“In many states banks are in far worse shape, primarily because of housing problems that were allowed to develop. Fortunately, Oklahoma is not one of those states,” said Hansen, who is president and CEO of the First State Bank of Fairfax.

While Oklahoma banks are comparatively strong, they have not been immune to the economic and financial environment. Just 36.8 percent of state banks reported earnings gains in the quarter, down from 56.8 percent in the same period last year.

Nationally, records were set in the rate of banks’ net charge-offs, led by loans to commercial and industrial borrowers, and the level of loans and

The FDIC closed 24 banks during the quarter, including Oklahoma’s first failed bank in 17 years — First State Bank of Altus. The total was the largest number of failed institutions since the fourth quarter of 1992. In the first six months of this year, 45 banks have failed.

The number of institutions on the FDIC’s “problem list” grew to 416 from 305 at the end of March. That is the largest number of “problem” institutions in 16 years.

While the economy and financial sectors have shown improvement of late, federal officials warn that the banking sector’s woes likely will persist for some time.

“These credit problems will at least outlast the recession by a couple of quarters,” FDIC Chairwoman Sheila C. Bair said. “Cleaning up balance sheets is a painful process that does take time, but it is absolutely necessary to the industry’s sustained profitability.”