|
Factoids Oct 2005 Sept 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 Feb 2005 Jan 2005 Dec 2004 Nov 2004 Oct 2004 Sept 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 Feb 2004 Jan 2004 Dec 2003 Nov 2003 Oct 2003 |
Monthly Sector Summary During November, large-cap banks rose 3.94% to a loss of 1.66% year to date, from October's loss of 3.76% and yields fell 14 basis point to 3.57% from October's 3.71%. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.49% [vs 4.57% on 10-31 - a fall of 8 basis points]. The point spread of the ten year's yield over that of the sector was 78 basis points at November's end. During October, large-cap banks rose 3.76% to a loss of 5.40% year to date, from August's loss of 8.75% and yields fell 13 basis point to 3.71% from September's 3.84%. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.57% [vs 4.33% on 9-30 - a rise of 22 basis points]. the spread was 86 basis points. During September, large-cap banks fell 2.74% to a loss of 8.75% year to date, from August's loss of 6.20% and yields rose 13 basis point to 3.84% from August's 3.71%. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.33% [vs 4.02% on 8-31 - a rise of 31 basis points]. The point spread of the ten year's yield over that of the sector was 49 basis points at September's end, 31 at August's end, 74 at July's end, 34 at June's end, 43 at May's end, 61 at Aprils end, and 89 at March's end. Based on that short history, the spread rose every time it fell below 40 and fell every month it was above 40 - up until October. Bank of America Finds New CFO Aids Stock Price Valerie Bauerlein, WSJ 11-28 Bank of America Corp. shares are up 9.2% since Sept. 8 -- the day Alvaro G. de Molina took over as chief financial officer of the nation's second-largest bank. A coincidence? Maybe not. Some investors and analysts say Mr. de Molina is the fix-it man Bank of America needs to help spruce up its dreary stock, which fetches much less per dollar of earnings than Citigroup and hometown rival Wachovia. The low price-to-earnings ratio of less than 11-to-1 is mostly the result of Bank of America's history of costly acquisitions and its recent reliance on gains from trading stocks in its own portfolio. In this year's second quarter, BAC agreed to spend $35 billion to buy credit-card issuer MBNA and boosted its bottom line with the sale of mortgage loans and unusually large gains on equity stakes in upstart companies, which can be volatile and may not repeat. The previous finance chief, Marc Oken, struggled to connect with Wall Street. An accountant by training, he sometimes frustrated analysts with his clipped answers to their questions. Some bristled earlier this year when he underestimated the impact of the narrowing gap between long- and short-term interest rates -- the so-called flattening yield curve, which hinders banks' ability to generate profits from lending at higher, long-term rates while paying interest on deposits at lower, short-term rates. Mr. Oken also was blamed for the bank's retreat from certain stock repurchases, which triggered worries that the MBNA acquisition won't add to per-share earnings as soon as Bank of America initially predicted because of the additional shares outstanding. He lasted just 17 months as CFO but remains with the bank to ease the transition with MBNA. Mr. de Molina's first sparring match with analysts and investors, last month's conference call to vet third-quarter results, left some convinced that Bank of America is starting to treat Wall Street with more respect. The new finance chief distributed nine sets of financial data that investors had been clamoring for, from credit-default swaps to how much net interest income came from trading compared with basic banking operations. "He's got credibility," says Robert Maneri, a portfolio manager with Victory Capital Management. "He understands the asset-liability process at the bank, and he explains it well." Victory owned more than 7.4 million Bank of America shares as of Sept. 30, about 1% of its portfolio, according to FactSet Research Systems, and has been adding to its holdings. Edward Maran, a managing director at Thornburg Investment Management, with $16 billion in assets under management, says Mr. de Molina won respect from analysts at Thornburg firm by walking methodically through how Bank of America manages interest-rate risk. Thornburg owned 3.3 million shares in the bank as of Sept. 30, representing 1.25% of its portfolio, according to FactSet. Last month, at a Lehman Brothers conference in New York, Mr. de Molina stayed more than an hour after his presentation and the regular question-and-answer session to respond to further questions. "You don't feel like you're getting spin with him," says Ruchi Madan, an analyst at Citigroup Smith Barney. Her $57 target price for Bank of America shares -- a 21% leap from Friday's 4 p.m. price of $46.99 -- essentially includes a bet that Mr. de Molina can dissipate some of the fog surrounding the bank so investors can zero in on its strengths, including the largest U.S. branch network. Ms. Madan's firm owns shares in BAC, which she rates a "buy." The 48-year-old Mr. de Molina acknowledges that Bank of America has a long way to go with analysts and investors, noting that the shares are "appropriately valued for the level of understanding that people have of the bank's performance." "I don't know that good communication can cover up anything," he adds. "But bad communication can cover up many good things." The Cuban-born Mr. de Molina did stints as treasurer, asset-liability chief and head of investment banking at Bank of America before succeeding Mr. Oken, who had hired him away from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.'s emerging-markets division in 1989. Mr. Oken, 58, says in a statement that Mr. de Molina is "very bright and very capable." Mr. Oken is retiring from the bank early next year. Mr. de Molina keeps what he calls a "nothing personal" spreadsheet tracking the performance of Bank of America shares since the day he was named finance chief. The stock's rise since his first day on the job has outpaced the 7.3% gain in the Dow Jones U.S. Bank Index. Still, some skeptics think the honeymoon for Mr. de Molina won't last. They contend that much of the recent stock-price rise is tied to the bank's 9.6% increase in third-quarter profit, which included continued strong consumer-credit quality. And while Mr. de Molina seems more willing than previous chief financial officers at Bank of America to deal with the company's image problems, the bank isn't likely to walk away from the operational moves that make investors leery, such as acquisitions. "There's only so much that one man can do," says David George, an A.G. Edwards analyst who has a "hold" rating on the stock. His 2006 EPS estimate of $4.20 is among the lowest on Wall Street. Overall, 10 analysts are urging investors to "buy" Bank of America shares, while six rate the stock a "hold," according to Zacks. In comparison, 11 of 13 analysts following Citigroup have "buy" ratings on its shares. Mr. de Molina says he will concentrate on trying to explain "what's going right and what's going wrong," even to analysts and investors who feel wounded by a lack of communication in the past. "I want them to trust me," he says. November Ratings Changes On 11-29 Hillard Lyons Downgraded BBT from Buy to Neutral. On 11-28 Ryan, Beck & Co Downgraded BBT from Market Perform to Underperform. On 11-23 Sandler O'Neill Downgraded BBT from Hold to Sell. On 11-23 Sandler O'Neill Downgraded STI from Buy to Hold. On 11-18 Morgan Stanley Downgraded JPM from Overweight to Equal-weight. On 11-17 Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey Initiated NFB at Buy. On 11-14 FTN Midwest Downgraded NFB from Buy to Neutral. On 11-16 Sandler O'Neill Downgraded NCC from Buy to Hold. On 11-03 UBS Initiated FITB at Neutral. On 11-03 Friedman Billings Upgraded PNC from Market Perform to Outperform. October Ratings Changes On 10-31 Morgan Stanley Upgraded PNC from Equal-weight to Overweight. On 10-20 Harris Nesbitt Downgraded NFB from Outperform to Neutral and Advest Upgraded NFB from Neutral to Buy. On 10-19 Ryan, Beck & Co Downgraded NCC from Outperform to Market Perform. On 10-19 Keefe Bruyette Upgraded STI from Market Perform to Outperform. On 10-12 Morgan Keegan Initiated STI at Outperform. On 10-06 Oppenheimer Downgraded STI from Buy to Neutral. On 10-18 Prudential Upgraded USB from Underweight to Neutral. On 10-17 Friedman Billings Upgraded BBT from Market Perform to Outperform. On 10-06 Oppenheimer Downgraded NFB from Buy to Neutral. On 10-03 Sandler O'Neill Upgraded BAC to Hold from Buy. September Ratings Changes On 9-07 Piper Jaffray Upgraded JPM from Market Perform to Outperform. On 9-16 A.G. Edwards and Citigroup Research downgraded FITB to "hold" from "buy," Credit Suisse First Boston cut it to "neutral" from "outperform," and Prudential cut it to "underweight" from "neutral weight." Deutsche Bank upgraded the two Swiss banking giants, UBS and Credit Suisse Group [CSR: $46.22 P/E 13.06 and yielding 2.80% as of 9-09], to buy from hold. For both banks, Deutsche upped estimates on higher assets under management in the private banking operations and the prospect of a sustained increase in M&A activity. Deutsche also is of the view that the rest of the European banking sector is seeing an erosion of free cash flow generation, but that the cash flow generative nature of private banks will allow UBS and Credit Suisse to continue with buybacks. (Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch 9-07) Monthly Mid-Cap Bank Sector Summary During November mid-cap banks rose 2.64% to a year-to-date loss of 2.74% and yields ended at 3.48% [vs October's 3.53% - a fall of 5 basis points]. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.49% [vs 4.57% on 10-31 - a fall of 8 basis points]. During October mid-cap banks rose 1.39% to a year-to-date loss of 4.99% and yields ended at 3.53% [vs September's 3.58% - a fall of 5 basis points]. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.57% [vs 4.33% on 9-30 - a rise of 24 basis points]. During September mid-cap banks fell 3.67% to a year-to-date loss of 6.23% and yields ended at 3.58% [vs August's 3.44% - a rise of 14 basis points]. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.33% [vs 4.02% on 8-31 - a rise of 31 basis points]. During August mid-cap banks fell 2.74% to a year-to-date loss of 2.71% from June's year to date rise of 0.13% and yields ended at 3.44% [vs July's 3.32% - a rise of 12 basis points]. The ten year treasury ended the month at 4.02% [vs 4.28% on 7-29 - a fall of 26 basis points]. ASO Earnings $.51 vs. $.33 in Q3-04 Business Wire 10-20 AmSouth Bancorporation reported earnings for Q3-05, of $.51 per diluted share, compared to $.33 per diluted share reported for Q3-04. Net income for Q3-05 was $180.3 million versus $119.6 million for Q3-04. Results for Q3-04 include charges and related professional fees totaling $54.0 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in connection with regulatory settlements announced last year. Excluding the expenses from last year, third quarter 2004 earnings would have been $172.0 million or $0.48 per diluted share. AmSouth's Q3 performance resulted in a return on average equity of 20.0%, a return on average assets of 1.41%, and an efficiency ratio of 52.2%. Net interest income in the third quarter was down slightly from the prior quarter to $374.7 million, and produced a net interest margin of 3.31%. Loan growth has been strong, particularly in Commercial Real Estate and First Residential Mortgage lending, which grew 18.4% and 24.5%, respectively, compared with the third quarter of 2004. Low-cost deposit growth has also been very solid, increasing 13.4% during the same period. Noninterest revenue, which includes earnings from service charges, trust, investment management services, securities gains and other sources of fee income, was $259.6 million for the quarter, including a $44 million net pre-tax gain on the previously announced sale of AmSouth's mutual fund management business. Noninterest expenses in the Q3 rose to $336.9 million, reflecting higher marketing and professional services costs and an increase in other expenses including accruals related to Hurricane Katrina and other legal and regulatory matters. Net charge-offs improved to 0.19% of average net loans in Q3, declining 2 basis points compared with Q2-05. The ratio of loan loss reserves to total loans was 1.12% at September 30, 2005. The loan loss provision exceeded net charge-offs in the quarter by $19 million, as a result of Hurricane Katrina and one commercial credit. Nonperforming loan coverage ended the quarter at 478%. Total nonperforming assets at September 30, 2005, were $98.1 million, or 0.29% of loans net of unearned income, foreclosed properties and repossessions, compared to $90.0 million, or 0.27%, in the previous quarter. ASBC Earnings $.63 vs. $.57 in Q3-04 Business Wire 10-20 Associated Banc earned $.63 per diluted share in Q3-05, up 10.5% compared to $.57 per diluted share for both Q2-05 and Q3-04. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2005, diluted earnings per share were $1.79, up 6.5 percent from $1.68 per diluted share in the same period in 2004. For Q3-05, return on average assets was 1.56%, return on average tangible equity was 24.55% and book value per share was $16.12, compared to 1.44%, 22.65%, and $15.80, respectively, for Q2-05. Comparatively, for Q3-04 ROAA was 1.60%, ROATE was 21.69%, and book value per share was $13.19. For the first nine months of 2005, ROAA was 1.51% and ROATE was 23.78%, compared to 1.62% and 21.98%, respectively, for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2004. Net income was $81.0 million for Q3-05. This compares to $74.0 million for Q2-05, and $63.4 million for Q3-04. On a year-to-date basis, net income was $232.5 million, up 24% from $187.4 million for the comparable period of 2004. Associated's net interest income for the third quarter of 2005 was $164.1 million, compared to $166.7 million for the second quarter of 2005, and $133.2 million in the year-earlier quarter. For the first nine months of 2005, net interest income was $496.7 million, up from $394.2 million for the comparable year-to-date period of 2004. Net interest margin for Q3 was 3.56%, compared to 3.63% for Q2-05 and 3.76% for Q3-04. On a year-to-date basis, the net interest margin was 3.62%, versus 3.79% for the comparable period last year. Noninterest income was $77.0 million for Q3-05, compared to $61.7 million for Q2-05, and $47.2 million for Q3-04, with year-to-date noninterest income at $210.0 million, or 39% higher than the same nine-month period in 2004. Asset quality remained steady, with third quarter net charge-offs of $3.3 million, compared to net charge-offs of $3.6 million for the second quarter of 2005 and $3.0 million for the third quarter of 2004. For the first nine months of 2005, net charge-offs were $9.0 million (0.09 percent of average loans, annualized), versus $13.7 million (0.17 percent of average loans, annualized) for the first nine months of 2004. BXS Income $.29 vs. $.36 in Q3-04 PRNewswire 10-19 For the third quarter, Hurricane Katrina reduced the BXS's net income per diluted share by $0.10. Of this amount, $0.08 resulted from a $10.4 million pre-tax increase in the provision for credit losses, primarily as a result of the storm's impact on the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. In addition, $0.02 resulted from the $2.4 million impact of hurricane relief efforts, assistance for affected employees and lost non-interest revenue, a significant portion of which resulted from the Company's waiver of certain fees and service charges for people and businesses in the affected area. Including the impact of Hurricane Katrina, net income was $22.9 million, or $0.29 per diluted share, for Q3-05 compared with $27.6 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for Q3-04. Excluding the impact of Hurricane Katrina, net income for Q3-05 would have been $30.8 million and net income per diluted share for Q3-05 would have been $0.39. BancorpSouth's Q3-05 financial results also reflected the reversal of previous impairment of the Company's mortgage servicing asset ("MSA") totaling $2.8 million, which increased net income by $0.02 per diluted share. For Q3-04, impairment of the MSA totaled $2.2 million, which decreased net income by $0.02 per diluted share. In addition, our comparable quarter financial results reflect an unusually low effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2004, due to the reversal of merger related income tax contingencies and a state income tax refund. Compared to the effective tax rate for the third quarter of this year, the lower effective tax rate for the third quarter last year resulted in increased net income for the period of $0.02 per diluted share. Excluding the impact of changes in the value of the MSA, Hurricane Katrina and the change in effective tax rate, earnings for Q3-05 would have been $0.37 per diluted share, compared with $0.36 for Q3-04. Return on average assets 0.83% in Q3-05 vs. 1.04% in Q3-04. Return on common equity 9.70% in Q3-05 vs. 12.77% in Q3-04. Net interest margin was 3.61% for Q3-05 compared with 3.48% for Q3-04 and 3.66% for Q2-05. Noninterest revenue increased 13.8 percent to $48.2 million for the third quarter of 2005 compared with $42.3 million for the third quarter of 2004, primarily due, as discussed above, to the positive $2.8 million impact from the recovery of a previously recorded impairment of the MSA for the third quarter of 2005 compared with the negative $2.2 million impact from impairment to the MSA for the third quarter of 2004. Excluding these items, noninterest revenue increased 1.9 percent for the third quarter of 2005 from the third quarter of 2004. BancorpSouth repurchased 97,400 shares of its common stock during the third quarter of 2005 under a new stock repurchase plan authorized in April 2005 for the repurchase of up to 3 million shares. Combined with the shares repurchased under earlier plans, BancorpSouth had repurchased approximately 10.7 million shares of its common stock as of September 30, 2005, or approximately 13 percent of the shares outstanding when the original share repurchase program was initiated in 2001. CBCF Income $.48 vs. $.47 in Q3-04 PRNewswire 10-17 Citizens Banking Corporation announced net income of $21.0 million for Q3-05. This represents an increase of $0.4 million or 2.1% over Q2-05 net income of $20.6 million and an increase of $1.3 million or 6.9% over Q3-04 net income of $19.6 million. Diluted net income per share was $0.48, compared with $0.47 for Q2-05 and $0.45 for Q3-04. Annualized returns on average assets and average equity during Q3-05 were 1.06% and 12.71%, respectively, compared with 1.06% and 12.62% for Q2-05 and 1.02% and 12.27% for Q3-04. Net interest margin was 3.93% for Q3-05 compared with 3.92% for Q2-05 and 4.02% for Q3-04. The increase in net interest margin compared with the second quarter of 2005 resulted from an improvement in commercial loan interest income, largely offset by shifts within the deposit portfolio from lower cost savings and transaction products to time deposits and continued pressure on loan spreads. The improvement in commercial loan interest income was due to loan exit fees and recovered interest, which positively impacted the third quarter net interest margin percentage by two basis points. The decrease in net interest margin compared with the third quarter of 2004 was due to growth in higher yielding deposit products and pricing compression in commercial loans, partially offset by a shift in asset mix from investment securities to higher yielding commercial loans. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, net interest margin declined to 3.94% compared with 4.00% for the same period of 2004 as a result of the aforementioned changes. Net interest income was $69.6 million in Q3-05 compared with $68.8 million in Q2-05 and $69.3 million in Q2-04. The increase in net interest income compared with the second quarter of 2005 was driven by a higher net interest margin and growth in average earning assets. The slight increase compared with the third quarter of 2004 resulted from an increase in average earning assets, partially offset by a lower net interest margin. The earning asset increases were driven by growth in consumer and commercial loans outpacing declines in the securities portfolio. Noninterest income for Q3-05 was $23.9 million, an increase of $0.8 million or 3.4% from Q2-05 and a decrease of $11.1 million or 31.8% from Q3-04. The increase from the prior quarter was due to increases in deposit service charges, mortgage and other loan income, and other income, which were partially offset by decreases in brokerage and investment fees. Compared to the same period of 2004, the decline was primarily the result of the $11.7 million gain on the sale of the Illinois bank in the third quarter of 2004. During the third quarter of 2005, Citizens repurchased a total of 288,000 shares of its stock at an average price of $29.98. As of September 30, 2005 there are 2,376,200 shares remaining to be purchased under the program approved by the company's Board of Directors on October 16, 2003. Net charge-offs increased to $5.3 million in the third quarter of 2005 compared with $2.4 million in the second quarter of 2005 and $5.0 million in Q3-04. The net charge-offs in the third quarter of 2005 included $1.3 million related to the sale of nonperforming commercial loans with a balance of $6.7 million. The higher net charge-off level was reflected in Q3-05 provision for loan losses of $4.0 million, which was $2.6 million or 186.5% higher than the second quarter of 2005. Nonperforming assets decreased $6.4 million or 13.1% from Q2 to $42.6 million at September 30, 2005 and the nonperforming asset ratio improved to 0.76%, its lowest level in four years, from 0.89% at June 30, 2005. The decrease reflects the sale of nonperforming commercial loans, which was partially offset by an increase in repossessed assets and nonperforming consumer loans. Compass EPS $.83 in Q3-05 vs. $.75 in Q3-04 Business Wire 10-17 Compass Bancshares reported record earnings of $306.3 million for the first nine months of 2005, a 13% increase over the $271.6 million earned during the first nine months of 2004. For the same time period, earnings per share increased 12% to $2.42 from $2.17 in the prior year. Return on average assets and return on average shareholders' equity for the first nine months of 2005 were 1.41% and 19.09%, respectively. Earnings for Q3-05 increased 12% to $105.1 million compared to $93.6 million earned during Q3-04. Earnings per share for Q3-05 increased 11% to $0.83 from $0.75 in the prior year. Return on average assets and return on average shareholders' equity for Q3-05 were 1.40% and 18.85%, respectively. Compass' record financial performance was fueled by a 13 percent increase in revenue as both net interest income and noninterest income posted double-digit gains. Net interest income increased 10 percent from year ago levels driven by solid loan growth and continued low-cost deposit generation. During the quarter, Compass announced plans to expand its presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington market with the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Fort Worth-based TexasBanc Holding Co., the parent company of TexasBank. The largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Fort Worth, TexasBank has total assets of $1.6 billion and 24 banking centers. The combination creates a Southwestern powerhouse that will rank as the fifth largest bank in Texas and will rank fourth in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area based on deposit market share. Including the pending acquisition, Compass operates 409 full-service banking centers including 163 in Texas, 89 in Alabama, 73 in Arizona, 42 in Florida, 32 in Colorado, and 10 in New Mexico. D. Paul Jones, Jr., Compass chairman and chief executive officer, stated, "Our ability to fund loan demand primarily through internal deposit generation continued during the quarter. Total deposits increased 14 percent, led by a 14 percent increase in noninterest bearing deposits. Noninterest bearing deposits now represent more than 32 percent of Compass' total deposits," Jones stated. "While our percent net interest margin increased slightly from second quarter levels, we recognize the challenges throughout the financial services industry given the flattening yield curve and expectations that interest rates will continue to rise. Our focus, however, remains on generating sufficient volumes of high-quality loans and continued growth of low-cost deposits. Accordingly, during the third quarter we registered a $23.4 million increase in net interest income compared to a year ago." Comerica Q3-05 Earnings $1.41 vs. $1.28 in Q3-04 PRNewswire 10-19 Comerica reported Q3-05 earnings of $238 million, or $1.41 per diluted share, compared to $217 million, or $1.28 per diluted share, for Q2-05 and $196 million, or $1.13 per diluted share, for Q3-04. Net interest income was $512 million for Q3-05, compared to $483 million for Q2-05 and $451 million for Q3-04. In Q3-05, Comerica changed its warrant accounting, and recorded an adjustment to reflect its portfolio of warrants for non-marketable equity securities at fair value. Since a majority of these warrants were obtained as part of the loan origination process, the adjustment that resulted from the accounting change increased net interest income by $20 million in Q3-05. The $29 million increase in net interest income from Q2-05 resulted from the warrant accounting change discussed above, the spread improvement provided by non-interest bearing deposits in a rising interest rate environment, and the impact of one more day in Q3-05. Average earning assets of $49.1 billion for Q3-05 increased $1.7 billion from Q205, primarily as a result of a $1.4 billion, or 3%, increase in average loans to $44.6 billion for Q3-05. The Financial Services Division contributed $1.2 billion of the increase in average loans for Q3-05. Average deposits of $41.3 billion for Q3-05 increased $1.3 billion, or 3%, from Q2-05. The Financial Services Division contributed $491 million of the increase in average deposits for Q3-05. Average short-term borrowings increased $622 million in the third quarter 2005, when compared to the prior quarter. The net interest margin increased six basis points from Q2-05 to 4.15% in Q3-05. The change in warrant accounting added 16 basis points to the net interest margin in the third quarter 2005. The net interest margin was also positively impacted by a greater contribution from noninterest-bearing deposits in a higher rate environment. Partially offsetting these increases were higher levels of low rate loans provided to customers of the Corporation's Financial Services Division. Noninterest income was $232 million for the third quarter 2005, compared to $219 million for Q2-05 and $206 million for Q3-04. Included in other noninterest income in the third quarter 2005 was income (net of write-downs) from unconsolidated venture capital and private equity investments of $13 million, compared to write-downs (net of income distributions) of $5 million in the second quarter 2005. Also included in other noninterest income in Q3-05 were risk management hedge ineffectiveness losses of $3 million, compared to $5 million of gains in Q2-05. Total assets and common shareholders' equity were $54.3 billion and $5.1 billion, respectively, at September 30, 2005, compared to $54.7 billion and $5.1 billion, respectively, at June 30, 2005. There were approximately 165 million shares outstanding at September 30, 2005, compared to approximately 167 million shares outstanding at June 30, 2005. In the third quarter 2005, approximately 2.4 million shares were repurchased in the open market for $147 million. Comerica's third quarter 2005 estimated tier 1 common, tier 1 and total risk-based capital ratios were 8.00 percent, 8.62 percent and 11.99 percent, respectively. Colonial BancGroup earnings $0.39 for Q3-05 vs. $0.34 for Q3-04 Business Wire 10-19 The Colonial BancGroup, Inc. Chairman, CEO and President, Robert E. Lowder, announced today that the Company had record earnings for Q3-05 of $0.39 per diluted share, a 15% increase over the $0.34 recorded for Q3-04. Net income for the quarter was a record $61.3 million, a 34% increase over the $45.7 million in Q3-04. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, earnings per diluted share were $1.15 compared to $0.98, a 17% increase over the corresponding period of the prior year. The Company earned net income of $171 million in the first nine months of 2005 compared to $128 million for the same period of the prior year, a 34% increase. Net interest margin was 3.83% in Q3-05 vs. 3.64% in Q3-04. The bank's average deposits, excluding brokered deposits, grew internally by $581 million, or 18% annualized, from the second quarter of 2005, and by $1.9 billion, or 17%, from the third quarter of 2004. Total deposits at period end increased by $3.9 billion, or 34% ($1.8 billion, or 16%, excluding acquisitions, sale of branches and brokered deposits) from September 30, 2004. Total loans, excluding mortgage warehouse loans, grew $333 million, or 9.6% annualized, from June 30, 2005 to September 30, 2005 and grew organically $1.1 billion, or 9.7%, from September 30, 2004 to September 30, 2005. Mortgage warehouse loans decreased $186 million from June 30, 2005 to September 30, 2005 as a result of sales of loans to a third party commercial paper conduit. Colonial's nonperforming assets ratio was 0.24% compared to 0.20% at June 30, 2005 and 0.33% at September 30, 2004. Annualized net charge-offs were 0.10% of average loans for the third quarter of 2005. The allowance for loan losses was 1.14% of total loans and represented 468% of nonperforming assets at September 30, 2005. Colonial's noninterest income for Q3-05, excluding securities gains and losses, grew 34% over the same period in 2004. "Our relationship building and income diversification efforts are reflected in the increase in noninterest income. We are very pleased to have marked improvement in revenues from financial planning services, and mortgage origination activities and an increase in mortgage warehouse fees," said Mr. Lowder. FNB Q3-05 Net Income $.32 vs. $.31 in Q3-04 PRNewswire 10-20 F.N.B. reported Q3-05 net income of $18.1 million, or $.32 per diluted share. These results compare to $17.5 million, or $.31 per diluted share, for Q2-05 and $14.7 million, or $.31 per diluted share, for Q3-04. FNB's return on equity for Q3-05 was 15.5%, its return on tangible equity was 29.8% and its return on assets was 1.26%. Interest income, on a fully tax equivalent basis, was up 2.3% in Q3-05 compared to the previous quarter and 19.0% over the same period last year. Average loans increased 4.0%, annualized, on a linked quarter basis and 16.0% over Q3-04. The yield on earning assets also increased four basis points over the second quarter of 2005. Offsetting the increase in interest income was a 15 basis-point increase in the cost of funds compared to the previous quarter. This increase is attributable to competitive pricing pressures and disintermediation in the deposit base related to rising short term interest rates. Average deposits declined slightly in the quarter in response to customers' preference for higher rates in the marketplace. The net interest margin for Q3 was 3.77%, a decrease of 10 basis points from Q2-05. Non-interest income for Q3-05 was $18.8 million, up 2.5% from last quarter and equal to the same period last year. The linked quarter increase is primarily attributable to a 5.7% rise in service charges. The remaining fee income items were relatively flat quarter-over-quarter. Other income was down 53% versus the same period last year due to the reduced income associated with Sun. Annualized net charge-offs for the third quarter of 2005 were 36 basis points of average loans, better than the 56 basis points for the second quarter of 2005 and 43 basis points for the third quarter of 2004. Non- performing loans to total loans were 78 basis points for the third quarter of 2005, improving from the 81 basis points in both the third quarter last year and on a sequential quarter basis. Non-performing assets as a percent of total assets showed similar improvement. Shareholders' equity at September 30, 2005 was $467 million. The Corporation's leverage capital ratio was 7.0% and the tangible capital ratio was 4.7% at the end of the quarter. The Corporation continues to maintain "well capitalized" ratios for federal bank regulatory purposes. FHN Earnings $.90 for Q3-05 vs. $.89 for Q3-04 Primezone 10-19 First Horizon National announced earnings of $116.2 million, or $.90 diluted earnings per share for Q3-05. This compares to Q3-04's earnings of $113.6 million, or $.89 diluted earnings per share. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, earnings were $328.1 million or $2.55 diluted earnings per share, compared to $351.3 million or $2.73 diluted earnings per share for 2004. Return on average shareholders' equity and return on average assets were 21.1% and 1.21%, respectively, for Q3-05 compared to 23.7% and 1.63% for Q3-04. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, return on average shareholders' equity and return on average assets were 20.8% and 1.21%, respectively, compared to 24.9% and 1.76% for the same period in 2004. Two of FHN's segments have business operations in the areas impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and while it is too early to determine the full extent of any losses experienced on the Gulf Coast as a result of these hurricanes, management has been diligently reviewing any exposure that FHN might have in the region. Based on information currently available, third quarter 2005 results include $7.3 million of pre-tax hurricane related losses ($3.8 million in loan loss provision and $3.5 million in mortgage banking related losses). Net interest income increased 26% to $224.3 million in Q3-05 from $178.7 million in Q3-04. The increase in 2005's net interest income is primarily attributable to 18 percent total loan growth with commercial loans growing 33 percent to $9.1 billion from $6.8 billion and retail loans growing 6 percent to $9.5 billion from $9.0 billion. This growth resulted from expansion of the sales force, which increased market share in the core bank, as well as cross-sell opportunities in FHN's national markets where we have a substantial mortgage presence. Total deposits increased 13% or $1.2 billion over Q3-04. Retail/Commercial Banking's net interest margin for third quarter 2005 was held stable compared to Q3-04 by minimizing loan rate spread compression caused by competitive pricing while successfully increasing spreads on deposits in conjunction with Federal Reserve rate increases. Noninterest income increased 13% to $129.4 million in Q3-05 from $115.0 million in Q3-04. Noninterest income from sales and securitizations of real estate residential loans increased $8.6 million in third quarter 2005 including a $4.0 million reduction of securitized assets which prepaid faster than anticipated. Additionally, a charge of $3.9 million resulted from a write-off of net capitalized expenses on HELOCs held for sale which prepaid faster than anticipated. Merchant processing income increased 18 percent in third quarter 2005, or $3.4 million, reflecting increased volume from existing customers as well as an expanded customer base. Fees from deposit services charges increased $2.7 million compared to Q3-04. The provision for loan losses increased to $22.4 million in Q3-05 from $10.1 million last year as the loan portfolio has grown by 18% since Q3-04. This increase also includes $3.8 million related to hurricane losses. The net charge-off ratio continued to remain at low levels with 20 basis points in Q3-05 compared to 22 basis points in Q3-04 reflecting the stable risk profile of both the commercial and retail loan portfolios. FMER Net Income $0.43 vs. $0.37 in Q3-04 PRNewswire 10-20 FirstMerit Corporation announced Q3-05 net income of $36.6 million, or $0.43 per diluted share, up from $31.1 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for Q3-04. Annualized returns on average common equity and average assets for the quarter were 14.90% and 1.41%, respectively, compared with 12.78% and 1.21% for Q3-04. Total revenue, defined as net interest income on a fully-tax equivalent ("FTE") basis plus non-interest income net of securities transactions, was $136.2 million for the third quarter of 2005, compared with $132.1 million in the prior-year quarter, an increase of 3.07%. FTE net interest income increased 0.34% year-over-year, to $88.3 million. The net interest margin declined 1 basis point to 3.70%, while average earning assets increased $23.9 million to $9.5 billion. The Company continues to progress on its goal of remixing the balance sheet by replacing lower-yielding investment securities with higher-yielding assets. During the third quarter of 2005, the average investment portfolio decreased by $148.7 million, or 5.10%, compared with the third quarter of 2004, while average loans increased $171.6 million, or 2.65%, to $6.6 billion. Non-interest income for Q3-05 totaled $47.8 million, compared with $44.1 million for Q3-04, an increase of 8.55%. Excluding net securities gains, non-interest income was $47.8 million in the third quarter of 2005 and $44.0 million in the same period last year. Once again this quarter the Company is executing on its initiative of building a more profitable retail client relationship. During Q3-05, service charges on deposits rose $2.7 million, or 16.71%, compared with the third quarter of 2004. Credit card fees increased $0.9 million, or 8.93%, in Q3-05 compared with the year-ago quarter. As of September 30, 2005, nonperforming assets were $51.4 million, or 0.77% of period-end loans plus other real estate, compared with $54.0 million, or 0.82%, as of June 30, 2005, and $47.8 million or 0.74%, as of September 30, 2004. Net charge-offs for Q3-05 were $10.0 million, compared with $10.4 million for Q3-04, a decline of $0.4 million, or 3.85%. Compared with the previous quarter, net charge-offs decreased $0.3 million, or 2.69%. Annualized net charge-offs to average loans in Q3-05 improved to 0.60%, compared with 0.62% for the prior quarter and 0.64% for Q3-04. Shareholders' equity was $972.3 million on September 30, 2005. The Company's capital position remains strong as tangible equity to assets was 8.17%, compared with 8.34% on September 30, 2004. The common dividend paid during the quarter was $0.28 per share, a $0.01 increase from the prior-year quarter. During the third quarter of 2005 the Company repurchased 178,872 common shares. Period-end common shares outstanding totaled 83.4 million. FULT Net Income 27 cents in Q3-05 vs. 23 cents in Q3-04 MarketWire 10-18 Fulton Financial earned $42.1 million in Q3-05, a 17.0% increase over $36.0 million for Q3-04. Diluted net income per share increased to 27 cents, a 17.4% increase over the 23 cents reported (as restated) for Q3-04. Annualized return on average assets was 1.37% for the quarter. Annualized return on average equity was 13.08% and annualized return on tangible equity was 20.62%. The Efficiency ratio was 55.1% in Q3-05 vs. 56.4% in Q3-04. Loans, net of unearned income, increased $1.1 billion, or 15.4 percent, to $8.3 billion at September 30, 2005, compared to $7.2 billion at September 30, 2004. Approximately $550.0 million of this increase resulted from the December 31, 2004 acquisition of First Washington State Bank and the July 1, 2005 acquisition of Somerset Valley Bank. The remaining increase was realized mainly in commercial loans and commercial mortgages, which grew $379.2 million, or 7.9 percent, and residential mortgage loans, which increased $133.0 million, or 17.1%. Nonperforming assets were 0.39% of total assets at September 30, 2005 and 0.34% of total assets at September 30, 2004. Annualized net charge-offs for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 were 0.02% of average total loans, compared to 0.06% for the same period of 2004. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, net charge-offs were 0.02% of average loans, compared to 0.05% for 2004. The provision for loan losses decreased $310,000, or 27.6%, for Q3-05 as compared to the same period in 2004. Total deposits increased $1.4 billion, or 18.2%, from September 30, 2004 to September 30, 2005, to $8.8 billion. Approximately $900.0 million of this increase resulted from the First Washington and Somerset Valley acquisitions, with the remaining $455.6 million increase realized in both core deposit accounts and time deposits. Net interest income for the quarter increased $14.0 million, or 15.1%, compared to Q3-04. Fulton Financial's net interest margin was 3.92% for Q3-05, compared to 3.92% for Q2-05 and 3.88% for Q3-04. Other income, including investment securities gains, increased $1.2 million, or 3.3%, to $36.2 million in Q3-05. Excluding security gains, other income increased $3.6 million, or 11.3%, mainly as a result of a $1.9 million increase in mortgage banking income and $1.2 million of other income added by First Washington and Somerset Valley. For the first nine months of 2005, the Company reported net income of $102.8 million, or $1.22 per diluted share, up from $74.9 million, or $0.88 per diluted share, for the first nine months of 2004. ROE and ROA were 14.15% and 1.34%, respectively, compared with 10.16% and 0.96% for the prior-year period. WL EPS $0.65 vs. $.585 in Q3-04 Business Wire 10-21 Wilmington Trust reported that net income for Q3-05 was $44.4 million. This was 29% more than for Q3-04, and 10% more than for Q2-05. On a year-to-date basis, net income totaled $124.9 million, which was 17% higher than for the first nine months of 2004. Earnings per share (on a diluted basis) were $0.65 - 30% more than for Q3-04, and 10% more than Q2-05. On a year-to-date basis, earnings per share (diluted) were $1.82, which was 16% higher than for the first nine months of 2004. On an annualized basis, Q3-05 results generated a return on average assets of 1.77% and a return on average stockholders' equity of 18.39%. The corresponding returns for Q3-04 were 1.48% and 15.71%, respectively. These ratios increased because net income increased at a faster pace than capital. The net interest margin for Q3-05 was 3.66%. This was the same as for Q2-05, and 15 basis points higher than Q3-04. For the first nine months of 2005, the net interest margin was 3.65%. This was 13 basis points higher than the 3.52% reported for the first nine months of 2004. Factors affecting the margin were the rising interest rate environment, growth in loan balances, the company's slight asset sensitivity, and favorable deposit pricing. The 15-basis-point increase between the 2004 and 2005 third quarters reflected the difference between the increase in the average yield on earning assets, such as loans, and the increase in the average cost of funds, such as deposits, that support earning assets. On a linked-quarter basis, the margin was unchanged because the increase in the yield on earning assets was equal to the increase in the cost of funds. Net interest income $ 83.7 million in Q3-05 vs. $ 74.0 million in Q3-04. Noninterest income $79.7 million in Q3-05 vs. $69.4 million in Q3-04. Approximately 77% of total loans were floating rate loans, most of which reprice within 30 to 45 days of a rate increase. The pricing on approximately 63% of commercial floating-rate loans was tied to a prime lending rate of 6.75%. The pricing on approximately 33% of commercial floating-rate loans was tied to the 1-month LIBOR. Income from service charges on deposit accounts was $7.4 million for Q3-05. Although this was $400,000 less than for the year-ago third quarter, it was $700,000 more than for the 2005 second quarter. The linked-quarter increase reflected a substantial increase in automated teller machine (ATM) fees, which were 45% higher than for the 2005 second quarter. Since April 2005, the company has added 52 new ATMs in New Jersey and Delaware, resulting in higher ATM surcharge income. Other noninterest income for the 2005 third quarter included approximately $2 million of gains from executive life insurance policies. The company invests in corporate-owned life insurance contracts to fund future obligations of its supplemental executive retirement plan for selected officers, as described in the 2004 Annual Report to Shareholders. For Q3-05, the net charge-off ratio was 3 basis points - equal to the ratio for Q2-05, and 3 basis points lower than for Q3-04. The low level of net charge-offs reflected the health of the Delaware Valley economy and the company's disciplined loan underwriting culture. On an annualized basis, the net charge-off ratio was 12 basis points. In comparison, the year-ago annualized ratio was 24 basis points. During Q3-05, the company bought back 7,980 of its shares at an average per-share price of $38.45 and a total cost of $0.3 million. This brought the total number of shares repurchased under the current 8-million-share program, which commenced in April 2002, to 682,430, leaving 7,317,570 available for repurchase. AmSouth Bancorporation Increases Dividend 4 Percent Business Wire 10-20 AmSouth Bancorporation announced that its Board of Directors increased the company's quarterly dividend 4 percent to $.26 per common share, payable Jan. 2, 2006, to shareholders of record as of Dec. 20, 2005. Based on the new dividend rate, AmSouth's dividend yield as of October 19, 2005, would be 4.2 percent. Associated Banc-Corp Enters into Accelerated Share Buyback Business Wire 11-04 Associated Banc repurchased 974,000 shares, or approximately 0.7 percent, of its outstanding common stock on Nov. 3, 2005, the company announced. Associated conducted the share buy-back as part of an initiative outlined in the company's third quarter earnings release whereby cash flows from maturing investments are being used to reduce wholesale funding and to repurchase shares. First Horizon Announces Dividend Increase to $.45 Primezone 10-19 First Horizon National's board of directors declared a dividend of $.45 per share payable on Jan. 1, 2006, to shareholders of record on Dec. 16, 2005. This action increases First Horizon's quarterly dividend rate 4.7 percent, from $.43 per share. Hibernia Shareholders to Vote on Takeover AP 11-13 Hibernia Corp. shareholders meet Monday in Houston to vote on the proposed Capital One Corp. takeover and are expected to approve the transaction, even though their payout will be less than previously expected. Shareholders approved the merger in August but the closing was rescheduled twice and the deal was revised downward for Hibernia shareholders after Hurricane Katrina roared through the New Orleans area. If the deal had closed Friday, each Hibernia share would have been worth about $30.06. That's down from when the renegotiated terms were announced in September, at which time Hibernia shareholders would have received about $30.60 for each share. And that was down from the original deal, under which shareholders would have received $33 a share at the time it was announced in March. The new lower price is still more than 13 percent above Hibernia's $26.57 closing price on the day before the buyout announcement. Under the new terms, each Hibernia share is worth $13.95 in cash plus the value of 0.2055 of a share of Capital One. NOTE: Please confirm through your own research any numbers on which you are to make a buy, sell or hold decision. The page is ment to be a supliment for those already getting monthly sector updates from their broker. It is the goal of this page to provide more timely data - and perhaps cover a wider array of stocks and different valuation metrics. Data entry errors sporadically happen. Home Page Factoids Previous Update |