St. Louis banks decreased their lending compared to a year ago and increased their profitability in 2011, according to data released by the Federal Reserve.

The more than 70 banks chartered in the St. Louis area had $17.5 billion in outstanding loans at the end of 2011, down from $19.5 billion a year ago, according to the Federal Reserve.

The figures do not include financial services firm Stifel Financial or banks that are headquartered outside of St. Louis, such as Bank of America or U.S. Bank. The data also excludes one of the largest locally chartered banks, Clayton-based Enterprise Financial, which has not yet submitted its call report data. Late last month, Enterprise Financial delayed the release of its earnings results from the fourth quarter and all of 2011 due to an accounting error related to its purchase of failed banks in the Kansas City area and Phoenix. The accounting error overstated profits from the failed banks for 2010 and the first nine months of 2011.

While loans for local banks are down, bank profits are up. The more than 70 local banks posted a combined $46.9 million profit at the end of 2011, compared with a loss of $118.8 million in 2010. Many banks cut back on real estate loans in recent years, which had high default rates following the recession.

Of the 10 largest locally chartered banks included in the Fed's data, only two banks posted losses for 2011: First Bank and Reliance Bank. First Bank narrowed its loss to $28.3 million in 2011, compared to a $178.5 million loss in 2010. Reliance Bank posted a loss of $28.2 million in 2011, compared to a $31.6 million loss in 2010.

Editor's note: The total loans outstanding has been updated from an earlier version. Check back for more details from the Fed's data in the Business Friday section of the Post-Dispatch.