Huntington National Bank 2009 Annual Report Download - page 5

T
hrou
g
hout last
y
ear, customer lo
y
alt
y
and faith in the compan
y
remained hi
g
h. Retail and commercia
l
customer
b
ases
g
rew. We wor
k
e
dh
ar
d
to ass
i
st
b
orrowers un
d
er stress. T
h
rou
gh
count
l
ess
h
ours o
f
commun
i
t
y
service, we sent a messa
g
e that our communities could count on us. B
y
buildin
g
capital and improvin
g
underlying financial performance, our colleagues and shareholders knew we were building for the future.
Comments on Ke
y
Shareholder Issue
s
Let me comment on two ke
y
issues that man
y
of our shareholders have written to me about: repa
y
men
t
o
f
our TARP cap
i
ta
l
an
d
common stoc
kdi
v
id
en
d
s.
In November 2008, we applied for and received
$
1.4 billion of capital from the U.S. Treasur
y
’s Troubled
Asset Re
li
e
f
Pro
g
ram’s Cap
i
ta
l
Purc
h
ase P
l
an (TARP). We
b
e
li
eve t
h
at t
h
e cap
i
ta
l
ra
i
se
dl
ast
y
ear, coup
l
e
d
with a much more liquid balance sheet, includin
g
$1.5 billion of cash on hand at the end of 2009, position u
s
well for the eventual repa
y
ment of our TARP capital. Yet, before we be
g
in explorin
g
repa
y
ment, we believ
e
t
h
ere are two prerequ
i
s
i
tes. F
i
rst, we nee
d
to
d
emonstrate pro
fi
ta
bl
e quarter
ly
per
f
ormance. Secon
d
, we wan
t
to see susta
i
ne
d
upwar
d
momentum
i
nt
h
e econom
y
.W
hil
et
h
ere
h
ave
b
een s
ig
ns o
f
econom
i
c sta
bili
t
y
,
unfortunatel
y
the econom
y
and financial markets remain fra
g
ile and sub
j
ect to unforeseen domestic and/o
r
international events. For now, it seems prudent to retain this capital should an
y
unforeseen issues arise.
T
h
e
i
ssue o
f
common stoc
kdi
v
id
en
d
s
i
ss
i
m
il
ar. We un
d
erstan
dh
ow pa
i
n
f
u
ll
ast year’s
di
v
id
en
d
re
d
uct
i
ons were
f
or man
y
o
f
our s
h
are
h
o
ld
ers, espec
i
a
lly
t
h
ose
d
epen
di
n
g
on
di
v
id
en
d
s
f
or
i
ncome. It
i
s our
l
on
g
-term p
l
an to return to pa
yi
n
g
an appropr
i
ate common stoc
kdi
v
id
en
d
. However,
b
e
f
ore ra
i
s
i
n
g
t
he
dividend, we need to make certain that profitable performance is sustainable. And we believe we should repa
y
our TARP cap
i
ta
lb
e
f
ore cons
id
er
i
n
gi
ncreas
i
n
g
t
h
e
di
v
id
en
d
. As suc
h
,I
d
o not see an
i
ncrease
i
n our commo
n
stoc
k divid
en
di
nt
h
e near term.
Closin
g
Comments
I want to thank our board of directors for their su
pp
ort and commitment to our shareholders
.
This past
y
ear, Ra
y
mond J. Bi
gg
s retired from the board, and Mar
y
louise Fennell will be retirin
g
thi
s
com
i
n
g
Apr
il
. I want to t
h
an
k
t
h
em
f
or t
h
e
i
r
d
e
di
cate
d
serv
i
ce an
d
w
i
se counse
l
to Hunt
i
n
g
ton over t
h
e
y
ears
an
d
espec
i
a
lly
to me
d
ur
i
n
g
m
yfi
rst
y
ear as
b
oar
d
c
h
a
i
rman,
gi
ven
l
ast
y
ear’s per
i
o
d
o
f
unprece
d
ente
d
challen
g
es. Joinin
g
the board are William R. Robertson and Richard W. Neu. Both have stron
g
bankin
g
back
g
rounds with deep roots in the Cleveland, Ohio, market. Thou
g
h these
g
entlemen have served on th
e
b
oar
d
on
ly
as
h
ort per
i
o
d
o
f
t
i
me,
b
ot
hh
ave a
l
rea
dy
a
dd
e
dg
reat va
l
ue to our
d
e
lib
erat
i
ons
.
Last
y
ear was ver
y diffi
cu
l
t. Yet, as I
l
oo
k
out over t
h
e com
i
n
g
mont
h
san
d
our prospects, I am ver
y
opt
i
m
i
st
i
ca
b
out Hunt
i
n
g
ton’s
f
uture
.
Most o
f
our wor
ki
n 2009 was
i
n
b
u
ildi
n
g
aso
lid f
oun
d
at
i
on
f
rom w
hi
c
h
we can
g
row,
i
mprove our
performance, and move forward. We have a solid franchise. Our product offerin
g
s are broad and of hi
gh
qua
li
t
y
. Our customers are extreme
ly l
o
y
a
l
. Our
b
a
l
ance s
h
eet
i
sso
lid
w
h
et
h
er t
h
e measure
i
s
li
qu
idi
t
y
,
reserves, or cap
i
ta
l
. We stren
g
t
h
ene
d
r
i
s
k
mana
g
ement pract
i
ces an
d
co
ll
ea
g
ue accounta
bili
t
y
.Wema
d
eso
lid
pro
g
ress in
g
rowin
g
the core businesses and revenue. We are makin
g
meanin
g
ful investments in future
g
rowth
.
A recent surve
yi
n
di
cate
d
t
h
at our co
ll
ea
g
ues are
highly
en
g
a
g
e
d
an
d
ener
gi
ze
d
.T
h
e
i
r comm
i
tment t
o
customers an
dd
e
li
ver
i
n
g
serv
i
ce exce
ll
ence rema
i
ns ver
y high
.A
ll
o
f
us can see t
h
e opportun
i
t
i
es
b
e
f
ore us
.
Our
j
o
bi
sto
d
e
li
ver t
h
e
b
ene
fi
ts o
f
t
h
ese opportun
i
t
i
es to our customers an
d
s
h
are
h
o
ld
ers. We
h
ave c
l
ear
ly
turned the corner. Now, it is all about focus, execution, and
g
rowth. In sum, we are
g
ettin
g
stron
g
er ever
y
da
y.
T
h
an
ky
ou
f
or
y
our support.
Ste
p
hen D. Steinou
r
C
h
a
i
rman
,
Pres
id
ent
,
an
d
C
hi
e
f
Execut
i
ve O
ffi
ce
r
Marc
h
8
,
2010
3