The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said yesterday its “problem list” of banks increased 30 percent in the second quarter to the highest total in five years.

The list had 117 “problem” banks as of June 30, up from 90 in the first quarter and the highest since mid 2003, the agency said in its quarterly report released in Washington. FDIC-insured lenders reported net income of $4.96 billion, down from $36.8 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

“Quite frankly, the results were pretty dismal, and we don’t see a return to the high earnings levels of previous years any time soon,” FDIC chairman Sheila Bair said at a news conference.

The agency doesn’t disclose the names of institutions on its internal list of troubled banks. On average, 13 percent of banks that make the list fail.

The largest banks and securities firms have announced more than $500 billion in asset write-downs and credit losses since last year linked to declines in mortgage-backed securities.

Nine banks have failed this year, including California-based mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the third-largest federally insured institution to be seized by U.S. regulators. The FDIC is running a successor institution, IndyMac Federal Bank FSB, while the agency seeks a buyer.

The majority of U.S. banks “will be able to weather” the economic and housing storms, with 98 percent of them still holding adequate capital by the regulators’ standards, Bair said.

Total assets of troubled banks jumped from $26 billion to $78 billion in the second quarter, the FDIC said, with $32 billion of the increase coming from IndyMac Bank, which failed last month — the biggest regulated thrift to fail in the United States.

“More banks will come on the [troubled] list as credit problems worsen,” Bair said. “Assets of problem institutions also will continue to rise.”

IndyMac’s failure and others in the quarter reduced the federal deposit insurance fund from $53 billion to $45 billion. Bair said the agency will raise insurance premiums paid by banks and thrifts to replenish its reserve fund and bolster depositors’ confidence.

Concern has been growing over the solvency of some banks amid the housing slump and the steep slide in the mortgage market. The pressures of tighter credit, tumbling home prices and rising foreclosures have been battering banks of all sizes nationwide.

The FDIC has been keeping an especially close eye on banks and thrifts with high levels of exposure to the riskiest borrowers and markets, agency officials say, including subprime mortgages and construction loans in overbuilt areas.

Another area of potential concern: banks’ holdings of preferred stock of troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A government rescue of the companies, whose share prices have rebounded a bit this week after plummeting recently as they struggle with billions of dollars in losses from bad mortgages, could be costly for scores of banks that hold billions in their preferred shares.

“We’re closely monitoring that situation,” Bair said.

The FDIC said troubled assets — loans that are 90 or more days past due — continued to rise in the second quarter, jumping by $26.7 billion, or 19.6 percent, over the first quarter. It was the first time since 1993 that the percentage of total loans that were troubled broke 2 percent, at 2.04 percent.

With Associated Press reports