Huntington National Bank 2011 Annual Report Download - page 7

In 2011, we further improved our credit quality performance as we have returned to near normal provision
levels sooner than most. Through our differentiated strategy, we accelerated customer growth. In each quarter of
last year, we roughly added the same number of new consumer checking account households that we used to add
in a full year. And we are selling more products and services to both consumers and businesses. Our commercial
banking and capital markets product menus continue to expand, giving us new avenues for growing revenues.
These build the foundation for generating capital internally that we can then deploy for the benefit of our
shareholders. That deployment will come in several ways. First, we are committed to providing our shareholders
a dividend. Regulators currently are targeting a dividend payout cap at about 30%. As our income grows, then so
should our dividend. Second, the industry is currently capitalized at near historically high levels. Given the
freshness of the memories of the 2008 melt-down, it is highly unlikely that capital levels will ever return to
pre-2008 levels. However, the industry, including Huntington, has basically recapitalized itself at the new higher
Basel III levels. This, coupled with the rigor of the annual stress tests, may result in regulators increasingly
permitting banks to return some capital to shareholders through share buyback programs. Third, we will also
reserve some of our internally generated capital for investing in our business.
I want to thank three of our directors who are leaving the board effective at the annual meeting for their
dedicated service and counsel to Huntington. William R. Robertson is retiring after three years of service on the
board due to the age limitation in our bylaws. D. James Hilliker and Gerard P. Mastroianni are each leaving the
board after lengthy tenures as financial institution directors, including the past five years as Huntington directors.
Looking back at 2011, it was a very good year with lots of progress made on a number of key fronts, despite
some legislated revenue restrictions and economic headwinds. We enter 2012 a much stronger company with
good momentum in a number of key areas. We believe our prospects are good. We are increasingly moving
toward our objective of being the premier bank of the Midwest, as evidenced recently by Huntington being
named “Best Regional Bank in the Midwest”, MONEY®Magazine, September 2011.
Thank you for your continued support.
Stephen D. Steinour
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
March 5, 2012
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