Pnc

A baseball-capped bandit struck out when he tried to rob a Bank of America on Allegheny Avenue near Jasper Street yesterday afternoon, so he changed clothes and headed to the PNC in Center City's Wills Eye Hospital, police said. On his second try, cops said, he took off with an undisclosed sum of cash. The robber, described as a medium-to-stocky white man in his 40s, about 5 feet 8 with salt-and-pepper hair and thin facial hair, was still on the loose last night. In both incidents, he presented a threatening note to the teller.

It may be a bit much to expect club professionals from the Philadelphia area to find ways to take a break from their busy work schedules and prepare for their biggest tournament of the year, but that's not going to stop them from having some fun. At least they won't have to travel far to compete in the 44th PGA Professional National Championship, which begins Sunday on the East and West Courses of Hershey Country Club. Fourteen players from the Philadelphia Section PGA will tee it up for the 72-hole event, which ends Wednesday.

PNC Financial Services Group , the biggest bank in Pennsylvania, plans to cement its position as the fifth-largest U.S. bank by purchasing Royal Bank of Canada's 424 RBC bank branches from Virginia to Alabama. PNC picks up RBC's $25 billion in loans and investments for a relatively modest premium of $3.45 billion, over the next two years. PNC plans to cut $230 million in yearly operating expenses, laying off thousands. "The branches are primarily located in semi-rural and suburban locations, which fits well with PNC's current strategy of being a big player in small towns," FBR Capital Markets analyst Paul Miller Jr. , a former Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia examiner, told clients in a report.

Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said yesterday that it is buying the U.S. retail operations and credit-card assets of Royal Bank of Canada for $3.62 billion. PNC said that the transaction will bring its total to 2,870 branches and make it the fifth biggest among U.S. banks. PNC said in a statement that the RBC acquisition will give PNC access to "attractive southeast markets in a way that will create value for our shareholders. "

In the Region Plymouth Meeting lender bought New Penn Financial L.L.C. , a Plymouth Meeting mortgage lender, said Friday it had been acquired by Shellpoint Partners L.L.C. , New York, for an undisclosed price. New Penn said it employed more than 400 in 24 offices and generated $1.2 billion in mortgages last year. New Penn founder Jerry Schiano will remain at New Penn and assume a management position at Shellpoint, New Penn said. The plan for the combined operation is that Shellpoint will package mortgages originated by New Penn into securities, with an emphasis on providing mortgages to borrowers who do not fit government agencies' loan criteria.

Two large funders have rewarded regional arts organizations with substantial grants for projects that seek to push arts activities out into communities, draw in previously ignored or overlooked audiences, and spread the cultural word throughout the Philadelphia area. In separate announcements, the Knight and PNC Foundations report that they have allocated a combined $3.7 million to 62 different organizations of all sizes and based all across the region. (The grant programs are not related.)

Two large funders have rewarded regional arts organizations with substantial grants for projects that seek to push arts activities out into communities, draw in previously ignored or overlooked audiences, and spread the cultural word throughout the Philadelphia area. In separate announcements, the Knight and PNC Foundations report that they have allocated a combined $3.7 million to 62 different organizations of all sizes and based all across the region. (The grant programs are not related.)

PITTSBURGH - PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said Thursday net income in the first quarter more than doubled because it set aside less to cover potentially bad loans and the year-ago quarter had special charges that lowered results. The Pittsburgh-based bank is the third-largest in the Philadelphia region, based on its 10.61 percent share of deposits ($13.4 billion) as of last June. PNC posted net income of $833 million, or $1.57 per share, compared with $333 million, or 66 cents per share a year ago. The results beat the $1.37 expected by analysts surveyed by FactSet.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. today raised its quarterly dividend to 35 cents from 10 cents, an increase the bank attributed to an improved economy and its own strengthened capital position. The company also said it will repurchase up to $500 million worth of its common stock this year. At this afternoon's stock price of $63.90, that would mean a buyback of 7.8 million shares. As of mid-February, PNC had 525.5 million shares outstanding. The new dividend is payable May 5 to shareholders on April 18. PNC slashed its quarterly dividend to 10 cents a share from 66 cents in April 2009, in the midst of the meltdown of the nation's financial system.

After 20 years and more than $7 million in corporate support, PNC Bank has ended its big-time commitment to the Philadelphia International Flower Show, bank and show officials confirmed Thursday. "It was and is a great relationship, but we thought it was an ideal time for us to diversify some of the sponsorships that we do in Philly and are contemplating doing," said J. William Mills 3d, PNC's regional president for Philadelphia and South Jersey. Mills remains on the board of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which wrapped up the 2011 Flower Show on March 13 with its highest attendance in nine years.