Fifth Third Bank sold $228 million in nonperforming residential mortgage loans, roughly half of its troubled mortgage portfolio, for $105 million in the third quarter, or 44% of what the loans were originally worth. The bank earned $238 million in the third quarter, or $0.22 per share, after losing $97 million a year ago. The earnings came in spite of the $123 million charge-off from the troubled-loan sale. Fifth Third transferred $961 million of its nonperforming commercial loans to “held-for-sale.” This action generated another $387 million in charge-offs as they price the loans. The bank said it expects to sell a significant portion of the loans in the fourth quarter. Both the commercial and residential unloading will cost the bank a combined $510 million in net charge-offs, which is more than the $420 million in total earnings it reported in the first three quarters of this year. Mortgage banking revenue at Fifth Third was $232 million in the third quarter, up 152% from the $92 million earned a year ago. It originated $5.6 billion in mortgages, up 21.7% increase from a year ago. Write to Jon Prior.