For the third quarter, net income from continuing operations was $0.65 per common share.
Importantly, we delivered positive operating leverage this quarter.
Total revenues were up 8% compared to the same period last year.
Our return on tangible common equity for the quarter was 18.6%.
Average PPP loans declined $3.3 billion this quarter as we help clients take advantage of loan forgiveness.
The sale impacted our third-quarter average results by approximately $800 million and $3.3 billion on an ending basis.
Compared to the prior quarter, average loans were down 0.7%.
Adjusting for the sale of the indirect auto portfolio, our loans were up approximately $100 million on average and up over $1 billion on an ending basis.
Adding to the comments on our core loan growth, adjusting for both the indirect auto loan sale and PPP loans our linked quarter total loan growth would have been 4.3%.
Average deposits totaled $147 billion for the third quarter of 2021, up to $12 billion or 9% compared to the year-ago period and up 2% from the prior quarter.
We continue to have a strong, stable core deposit base with consumer deposits accounting for approximately 60% of our total deposit mix.
Taxable equivalent net interest income was $1.025 billion for the third quarter of 2021, compared to $1.006 billion a year ago and $1.023 billion from the prior quarter.
Our net interest margin was 2.47% for the third-quarter 2021, compared to 2.62% for the same period last year and 2.52% for the prior quarter.
Compared to the prior quarter, net interest income increased $2 million and the margin declined five basis points.
For the quarter, total loan fees from PPP loans were $45 million, compared to $50 million last quarter.
In the third quarter, our sensitivity to rising rates moved higher and we ended the period with over $25 billion in cash and short-term investments.
Noninterest income was $797 million for the third quarter of 2021, compared to $681 million for the year-ago period and $750 million in the second quarter.
Compared to the year-ago period, noninterest income increased 17%.
We had a record third quarter for investment banking and debt placement fees, which reached $235 million driven by broad-based growth across the platform, including strong M&A fees.
Additionally, corporate services income increased $18 million and commercial mortgage fees increased to $16 million.
Compared to the second quarter, noninterest income increased by $47 million.
We total noninterest expense for the quarter was $1.112 billion, compared to $1.037 billion last year and $1.076 billion in the prior quarter.
The quarter-over-quarter increase in expenses was primarily driven by two areas: the first, personnel expense related to one additional day of salary expense in the quarter and slightly higher employee benefits; the second was an increase in other expense of $18 million, largely related pension settlement charge and higher charitable contributions.
For the third quarter, net charge-offs were $29 million or 11 basis points of average loans.
Net charge-offs in the current quarter included $22 million related to the sale of the indirect auto loan portfolio.
Our provision for credit losses was a net benefit of $107 million.
Nonperforming loans were $554 million this quarter or 56 basis points of period-end loans, a decline of $140 million or 20% from the prior quarter.
We ended the third quarter with a common equity tier one ratio of 9.6%, which places us above our targeted range of nine to 9.5%.
We repurchased $593 million of common shares during the quarter our board of directors approved a third-quarter dividend at $0.185 per common share.
Of the 593 million in common share repurchases, $468 million were related to the initial settlement of our accelerated share repurchase program, representing 80% of the $585 million authorization.
The remaining $125 million were purchased in the open market.
The remaining 20% of the ASR will be settled in the fourth quarter.
We expect our net charge-offs to be below 20 basis points for the fourth quarter.
And our guidance for our GAAP tax rate has remained unchanged at 20%.

Summary:
For the third quarter, net income from continuing operations was $0.65 per common share.
Importantly, we delivered positive operating leverage this quarter.
Total revenues were up 8% compared to the same period last year.
For the third quarter, net charge-offs were $29 million or 11 basis points of average loans.
Our provision for credit losses was a net benefit of $107 million.