Bank of the West 2005 Annual Report Download - page 4

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Letter from the Chairman
2
The฀last฀fifteen฀months฀have฀been฀a฀peri-
od฀of฀very฀strong฀growth฀and฀expansion฀
for฀Bank฀of฀the฀West.฀From฀the฀fourth฀
quarter฀of฀2004,฀through฀December฀of฀
2005,฀we฀completed฀a฀series฀of฀acqui-
sitions฀which฀dramatically฀increased฀
our฀presence฀in฀the฀Western฀U.S.฀and฀
introduced฀the฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀brand฀
to฀the฀Rocky฀Mountain฀and฀Great฀Plains฀
states.฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀ended฀2005฀
among฀the฀25฀largest฀commercial฀banks฀
in฀the฀country,฀and฀as฀the฀second฀largest฀
bank฀headquartered฀in฀California.฀We฀
also฀acquired฀material฀market฀share฀in฀
Wyoming฀and฀Colorado฀where฀we฀rank฀
third฀and฀fourth฀respectively.
Growth฀and฀Expansion
•฀ In฀November฀of฀2004,฀we฀acquired฀
Fargo,฀North฀Dakota-headquartered฀
Community฀ First฀ Bank.฀ With฀ 166฀
banking฀locations,฀the฀acquisition฀
of฀Community฀First฀marked฀our฀en-
trance฀to฀ten฀Rocky฀Mountain฀and฀
Midwestern฀states.
•฀ In฀January,฀2005฀we฀converted฀16-
branch,฀Stockton,฀California-based฀
Union฀Safe฀Deposit฀Bank.฀This฀ac-
quisition฀added฀to฀Bank฀of฀the฀West’s฀
presence฀in฀the฀rapidly฀growing฀Cen-
tral฀Valley฀region฀of฀California.
•฀ In฀December฀of฀2005,฀we฀acquired฀
Commercial฀Federal฀Bank,฀a฀federal฀
savings฀bank฀headquartered฀in฀Oma-
ha,฀Nebraska.฀With฀$10.0฀billion฀in฀
assets฀and฀204฀banking฀locations,฀the฀
acquisition฀of฀Commercial฀Federal฀
strengthened฀our฀market฀presence฀
in฀Nebraska,฀Arizona,฀Colorado฀and฀
Iowa฀as฀it฀served฀to฀introduce฀the฀
Bank฀of฀the฀West฀“Bear”฀to฀Kansas,฀
Oklahoma฀and฀Missouri.
Strong฀Earnings฀Growth
Through฀these฀acquisitions,฀coupled฀
with฀strong฀organic฀growth,฀Bank฀of฀the฀
West฀was฀able฀to฀offset฀the฀impact฀of฀
industry-wide฀margin฀compression฀and฀
produce฀double฀digit฀earnings฀growth฀in฀
2005.฀Net฀income฀for฀2005฀was฀$525.7฀
million,฀a฀25%฀increase฀from฀net฀income฀
of฀$419.0฀million฀generated฀in฀2004.
We฀also฀experienced฀strong฀balance฀
sheet฀growth฀during฀the฀year.฀Total฀as-
sets฀increased฀by฀37%,฀from฀$40.2฀billion฀
at฀year-end฀2004,฀to฀$55.2฀billion฀at฀year-
end฀2005.฀Loans฀and฀leases฀increased฀
39%฀to฀end฀2005฀at฀$37.7฀billion,฀and฀
deposits฀grew฀by฀30%฀to฀end฀the฀year฀
at฀$33.9฀billion.
Growing฀Our฀Business
Bank฀of฀the฀West฀now฀provides฀a฀full฀
range฀ of฀ consumer฀ banking฀ prod-
ucts฀and฀services฀through฀681฀branch฀
banking฀locations฀in฀19฀Western฀and฀
Midwestern฀states,฀as฀well฀as฀small฀
business฀and฀corporate฀banking฀ser-
vices฀through฀dozens฀of฀banking฀offices฀
located฀throughout฀our฀service฀area.฀฀
As฀we฀have฀grown,฀we฀have฀remained฀
focused฀on฀preserving฀the฀high฀level฀of฀
customer฀service฀which฀has฀character-
ized฀Bank฀of฀the฀West฀since฀its฀incep-
tion฀in฀1874.