Regions Bank 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

A critical part to operating successfully in
this new environment is to reduce the risk
profi le of the balance sheet. In 2009, we
reduced critical credit exposures, selling
or transferring to held for sale some
$1.7 billion of troubled assets. Our
homebuilder portfolio was down 60%
since 2007, and our condominium
portfolio has become a nonissue. The
early and aggressive action we have
taken to reduce the risk profi le of the
balance sheet has stabilized our loan
losses. We believe these steps will help
Regions return to profi tability as the
economy improves.
RESULTS FROM CORE
FUNDAMENTALS OF
OUR BUSINESS
Even in this very challenging time for our
country and the economy, we achieved
signifi cant results in certain areas by
keeping our business focused on the
customer. Core to our philosophy is the
fact that Regions provides customers a
banking relationship, not just a banking
account. And, we believe satisfi ed
customers are loyal customers – which
ultimately results in profi tability and long-
term shareholder return. In 2009, we
received signifi cant industry recognition
for customer satisfaction: J.D. Power and
Associates named Regions Mortgage as
the No. 1 Mortgage Servicer in the nation;
Gallup confi rmed our ability to keep
customers fi rst when they ranked Regions
in the top quartile in customer satisfaction;
and the Small Business Administration
ranked Regions the No. 3 Small Business
Lender in the nation.
Customer satisfaction in turn fueled
impressive growth in deposits and
checking. We grew customer deposits
by $12.6 billion over the last 18 months
and opened more than 1 million new
checking accounts in 2009. We now have
more than 4 million checking accounts
at Regions and 400,000 investment
accounts at Morgan Keegan. Checking
production in 2009 was up 27% over
2008, and even more importantly, our net
checking account growth for the year was
almost three times greater than 2008.
In our view, in 2009 more people chose
Regions for their banking needs and
Morgan Keegan for their investment needs
because they want to conduct fi nancial
business where they do business – on
Main Street. In virtually all of our major
markets, we took market share last year
– with increased share in 15 of the 16
states where we operate. We’re in some
of the Southeast’s most attractive markets
from a growth potential standpoint and are
in an excellent position to continue to build
market share throughout the franchise.
Core to our philosophy is the
fact that Regions provides
customers a banking relationship,
not just a banking account.
REGIONS 2009 ANNUAL REPORT
MESSAGE FROM C. DOWD RITTER
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