Two U.S. banks repay bailout funds to Treasury

WASHINGTON Nov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday that two more banks have repaid a total $210 million in bailout funds that they received during the 2007-2009 financial crisis.

Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp of Crestview Hills, Kentucky, bought back $17 million of preferred shares that the Treasury had received when the bank got money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program. or TARP. The bank also paid accrued dividends of $18,888.

In addition, First Midwest Bancorp of Itasca, Illinois, bought back $193 million of preferred shares it had given to the Treasury and paid accrued dividends of $214,444.

The Treasury said in March that TARP's bank investment programs had begun turning a profit. It said on Wednesday that, after the latest two repayments, it has recovered more than $258 billion from banks through repayments, dividends, interest and other income.

That exceeds the original $245 billion of financial support that Treasury provided and means that taxpayers had about a $13 billion profit so far.

The Treasury continues to hold warrants to buy common stock in Bank of Kentucky Financial Corp and First Midwest Bancorp and has the option of selling those warrants for an additional return.