NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - A prominent banking analyst on Monday issued a clarification of a report in which he assessed the health of the U.S. banking industry, saying data in that report have been "misinterpreted to suggest that there are significant problems in the financial system."

The analyst, Richard Bove of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co, was not immediately available for comment. An outside spokesman for Ladenburg declined comment.

In the clarification, Bove wrote that "the main thrust" of the earlier report, which was dated Sunday, was that "banks are in better condition than is generally perceived."

Bove issued the earlier report, which was titled "Who Is Next?", after regulators on Friday seized IndyMac Bancorp Inc IMB.N, once a major mortgage lender.

The earlier report used two metrics to assess levels of nonperforming assets at more than 100 banking companies with more than $5 billion of assets. Ladenburg does not cover all of these banks.

In the clarification, referring to regional banks National City Corp NCC.N and First Horizon National Corp (FHN.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Bove wrote: "We are definitely not suggesting that National City, or First Horizon, is in dangerous condition at the present time."

He also repeated that while no bank covered by Ladenburg is in the "danger zone" with respect to one of the metrics, Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. savings and loan, "is on the edge."

In afternoon trading, shares of Washington Mutual were down almost 33 percent, First Horizon's were down 24 percent and National City's had lost more than 16 percent.

The KBW Bank Index , which includes Washington Mutual and National City, was down 7.1 percent, while the KBW Regional Bank Index , which includes First Horizon, was down 7.6 percent. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Mark Porter)