Average total loans and leases declined $0.1 billion, reflecting a $1.0 billion, or 5% decline in total commercial loans, partially offset by a $0.9 billion, or 6%, increase in average total consumer loans. 

Average commercial and industrial (C&I) loans were $0.3 billion, or 2%, lower in the quarter, reflecting a reclassification of $0.3 billion of variable rate demand notes to municipal securities.  Underlying growth was more than offset by a combination of continued lower line-of-credit utilization and pay-downs on term debt.  It is clear that the economic environment has caused many customers to actively reduce their leverage position.  Our line-of-credit utilization percentage was 42%, consistent with that of the prior quarter.  Yet, we continue to be pleased with the level of new business opportunities we are seeing as our pipeline continues to expand. 

Average commercial real estate loans (CRE) declined $0.8 billion, or 9%, primarily resulting from the pay-down and charge-off activity in the quarter.  While charge-offs remain a significant contributor to the decline in balances, we also continued to see substantial net pay-downs totaling $135 million for the quarter.  The pay-down activity was a result of our portfolio management and loan workout strategies, and some very early stage improvements in the markets.

Average total consumer loans increased $0.9 billion, or 6%, reflecting a $0.9 billion, or 28%, increase in average automobile loans and leases, of which $0.8 billion was the result of adopting ASC 810 – Consolidation.  At the end of first quarter of 2009, we transferred $1.0 billion of automobile loans to a trust in a securitization transaction as part of a funding strategy.  Upon adoption of the new accounting standard, the trust was consolidated as of January 1, 2010 and at March 31, 2010, the loans had a remaining balance of $0.7 billion.  Average residential mortgages increased $0.1 billion, or 1%.  Average home equity loans were essentially unchanged from the prior quarter.

The $0.4 billion, or 4%, decrease in average total investment securities reflected normal maturities.
Our March 31, 2010 liquidity position remained strong as we had $10.3 billion of cash and investment securities, up 43% from a year ago, and our loan-to-deposit ratio was 92%, up from 91% at December 31, 2009.  The slight increase in the loan-to-deposit ratio from last year end reflected the impact of bringing the automobile loan securitization back on the balance sheet.

Table 4 details changes within the various deposit categories as average total deposits were unchanged.

Table 4 – Deposits – 1Q10 vs. 4Q09

Average total deposits were unchanged from the prior quarter reflecting:

• $0.5 billion, or 1%, growth in average total core deposits.  The primary drivers of this change were 12% growth in average money market deposits, 4% growth in interest bearing demand deposits, and 2% increase in noninterest bearing demand deposits.  These increases were partially offset by a $0.9 billion, or 8%, decline in average core certificates of deposit, reflecting our focus on growing money market and transaction accounts.  Average savings and other domestic deposits declined $0.1 billion, or 2%.

Partially offset by:

• $0.5 billion, or 22%, decline in brokered deposits and negotiable CDs, reflecting the intentional reduction in noncore funding sources given the growth in core deposits.

2010 First Quarter versus 2009 First Quarter

Fully-taxable equivalent net interest income increased $55.1 million, or 16%, from the year-ago quarter.  This reflected the favorable impact of the significant increase in the net interest margin to 3.47% from 2.97% as average total earnings assets declined $0.3 billion, or less than 1%.  Though average total earnings assets were little changed from the year-ago quarter, this reflected a $4.0 billion, or 91%, increase in average total investment securities, mostly offset by a $3.9 billion, or 10%, decline in average total loans and leases.

Table 5 details the $3.9 billion, or 10%, decrease in average total loans and leases.

Table 5 – Loans and Leases – 1Q10 vs. 1Q09

The decrease in average total loans and leases reflected:

The $4.0 billion, or 91%, increase in average total investment securities reflected the deployment of the cash from core deposit growth and loan runoff over this period, as well as the proceeds from 2009 capital actions (See Capital for a full discussion). 

Table 6 details the $2.0 billion, or 5%, increase in average total deposits.

Table 6 – Deposits – 1Q10 vs. 1Q09

The increase in average total deposits from the year-ago quarter reflected:

Partially offset by:

Provision for Credit Losses

The provision for credit losses in the 2010 first quarter was $235.0 million, down $659.0 million, or 74%, from the prior quarter and down $56.8 million, or 19%, from the year-ago quarter.  The current quarter’s provision for credit losses essentially matched the $238.5 million of net charge-offs (see Credit Quality discussion).

Noninterest Income

2010 First Quarter versus 2009 Fourth Quarter

Noninterest income decreased $3.7 million, or 2%, from the 2009 fourth quarter.

Table 7 – Noninterest Income – 1Q10 vs. 4Q09

The decrease in total noninterest income reflected:

Partially offset by:

2010 First Quarter versus 2009 First Quarter

Noninterest income increased $1.8 million, or 1%, from the year-ago quarter.

Table 8 – Noninterest Income – 1Q10 vs. 1Q09

The increase in total noninterest income reflected:

Partially offset by:

Noninterest Expense

2010 First Quarter versus 2009 Fourth Quarter

Noninterest expense increased $75.5 million, or 23%, from the 2009 fourth quarter. 

Table 9 – Noninterest Expense – 1Q10 vs. 4Q09

The increase in noninterest expense reflected:

Partially offset by:

2010 First Quarter versus 2009 First Quarter

Noninterest expense decreased $2,571.7 million, or 87%, from the year-ago quarter. 

Table 10 – Noninterest Expense – 1Q10 vs. 1Q09

The decrease reflected:

Partially offset by:

Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes in the 2010 first quarter was a benefit of $38.1 million. This amount included the increase in the net deferred tax asset relating to the assets acquired from Franklin in 2009 offset by a decrease in net deferred tax assets resulting from certain provisions of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 relating to post retirement prescription drug coverage.  At March 31, 2010, we had a net deferred tax asset of $557.2 million.  Based on our level of our forecast of future taxable income, there was no impairment of the deferred tax asset at March 31, 2010.

Credit Quality Performance Discussion

Credit quality performance in the 2010 first quarter continued to improve.  Net charge-offs declined 46% from the prior quarter and represented the lowest level since the third quarter of 2008.  Nonperforming assets (NPAs) decreased 7% during the quarter.  Contributing to this was a 52% decline in new nonperforming assets to $237.9 million, also the lowest level since the third quarter of 2008.  The economic environment remains challenging, which is why we felt it prudent to maintain our period end allowance at 4.14% of total loans and leases, essentially unchanged from the end of the prior quarter.

Net Charge-Offs (NCOs)

Table 11 – Net Charge-offs

Total net charge-offs for the 2010 first quarter were $238.5 million, or an annualized 2.58% of average total loans and leases.  This was down $206.3 million, or 46%, from $444.7 million, or an annualized 4.80%, in the 2009 fourth quarter.  This improvement from the prior quarter reflected a $207.2 million, or 56%, decline in total commercial net charge-offs, partially offset by a $0.9 million, or 1%, increase in total consumer net charge-offs.

Total C&I net charge-offs for the 2010 first quarter were $75.4 million, or an annualized 2.45%, down 31% from $109.8 million, or an annualized 3.49% of related loans, in the 2009 fourth quarter.  First quarter results were positively affected by a reduced level of large dollar charge-offs.  In the prior quarter, $39.5 million of charge-offs were associated with the activity on five relationships. In the current quarter there was only one loss in excess of $5 million.  There continues to be improvement in delinquencies, with a 25% reduction in early stage delinquencies from the prior quarter, the first quarterly decline since 2008.  While there continues to be concern regarding the impact of the economic conditions on our commercial customers, the lower inflow of new nonaccruals, the reduction in criticized loans, and the significant decline in early stage delinquencies supports our outlook for improved credit quality performance in 2010.

Current quarter CRE net charge-offs were $85.3 million, or an annualized 4.44%, down 67% from $258.1 million, or an annualized 12.21% in the prior quarter.  As with C&I loans, a decrease in the number of losses in excess of $5 million was the primary driver of the lower level of charge-offs compared with the prior quarter.  Retail projects and single family homebuilders continued to represent a significant portion, or 52%, of the losses.  The improvement was evident across all of our regions.  Based on the portfolio management processes, including charge-off activity over the past two and one half years, the credit issues in the single family homebuilder portfolio have been substantially addressed.  The retail property portfolio remains more susceptible to the ongoing market disruption, but we also believe that the combination of prior charge-offs and existing reserve balances positions us well to make effective credit decisions in the future.  We continued our ongoing portfolio management efforts during the quarter, including obtaining updated appraisals on properties and assessing a project status within the context of market environment expectations. 

Total consumer net charge-offs in the current quarter were $77.7 million, or an annualized 1.83%, up only 1% from $76.8 million in the fourth quarter.  The decline in the annualized net charge-off rate to 1.83% from 1.91% reflected an increase in average consumer loans during the 2010 first quarter.     

Residential mortgage net charge-offs were $24.3 million, or an annualized 2.17% of related average balances, up $6.5 million, or 37%, from the 2009 fourth quarter.   The increase from the prior quarter represents a return to a more consistent level after the impact of the 2009 third quarter nonaccrual loan sale on 2009 fourth quarter performance.  The third quarter sale had the effect of pulling some fourth quarter losses into the third quarter.  We continued to see positive trends in early-stage delinquencies, although there continues to be valuation pressure.       

Home equity net charge-offs in the 2010 first quarter were $37.9 million, or an annualized 2.01%.  This was up $2.1 million, or 6%, from $35.8 million, or an annualized 1.89%, in the prior quarter.  While net charge-offs were higher than prior quarters, there continued to be a declining trend in the early-stage delinquency level in the home equity line of credit portfolio, supporting our longer-term positive view for home equity portfolio performance.  The performance continues to be impacted by borrowers defaulting with no available equity.  We continue to focus on loss mitigation activity and short sales, as we continue to believe that our more proactive loss mitigation strategies are in the best interest of both the company and our customers.  While there has been a clear increase in the losses over the course of 2009, given the market conditions, performance remained within expectations.

Automobile loan and lease net charge-offs were $8.5 million, or an annualized 0.80%, down from $12.9 million, or an annualized 1.55%, in the prior quarter.  The decline in the annualized net charge-off percentage reflected in part the increase in average automobile balances resulting from the previously discussed consolidation of the automobile securitization trust effective January 1, 2010.  Underlying performance of this portfolio on both an absolute and relative basis continued to be consistent with our views regarding the quality of the portfolio.  We remain pleased that the level of delinquencies declined again this past quarter, further supporting our view of improved performance going forward.   

Nonaccrual Loans (NALs) and Nonperforming Assets (NPAs)

Table 12 – Nonaccrual Loans and Nonperforming Assets

Total nonaccrual loans and leases (NALs) were $1,766.1 million at March 31, 2010 and represented 4.78% of total loans and leases.  This was down $150.9 million, or 8%, from $1,917.0 million, or 5.21% of total loans and leases, at December 31, 2009.  The decline from the prior quarter primarily reflected decreases in CRE and C&I NALs, partially offset by an increase in residential mortgage-related NALs. 

CRE NALs decreased $109.0 million, or 12%, from the end of last year.  The decrease was a function of both charge-off activity, as well as problem credit resolutions, including pay-offs.  The payment category was substantial and is a direct result of our commitment to the ongoing proactive management of these credits by our Special Assets department.

C&I NALs decreased $66.8 million, or 12%, from the end of last year.   The decrease was also a function of both charge-off activity, as well as problem credit resolutions, including pay-offs, and was associated with loans throughout our footprint, with no specific geographic concentration.  From an industry perspective, improvement in the manufacturing-related segment accounted for a significant portion of the decrease.

Residential mortgage NALs increased $10.3 million, or 3%, reflecting the impact of the more conservative position on the timing of loss recognition and active loss mitigation and restructuring efforts.  Our efforts to proactively address existing issues with loss mitigation and loan modification transactions have helped to minimize the inflow of new NALs.  All nonaccruing loans in this category have been written down to current value less selling costs.

Home equity NALs increased $14.7 million, or 37%.  All home equity nonaccruing loans have been written down to current value less selling costs. 

Nonperforming assets (NPAs), which include NALs, were $1,918.4 million at March 31, 2010, and represented 5.17% of related assets.  This was down $139.7 million, or 7%, from $2,058.1 million, or 5.57% of related assets at the end of last year. 

Table 13 – 90 Days Past Due and Accruing Restructured Loans

The over 90-day delinquent, but still accruing, ratio excluding loans guaranteed by the U.S. Government, was 0.31% at March 31, 2010, down from 0.40% at the end of 2009 fourth quarter, and down 4 basis points from a year-ago.  On this same basis, the over 90-day delinquency ratio for total consumer loans was 0.65% at March 31, 2010, down from 0.90% at the end of the prior quarter, and from 0.85% a year ago.

Allowances for Credit Losses (ACL)

We maintain two reserves, both of which are available to absorb inherent credit losses: the allowance for loan and lease losses (ALLL) and the allowance for unfunded loan commitments and letters of credit (AULC).  When summed together, these reserves constitute the total ACL.

Table 14 – Allowances for Credit Losses (ACL)

At March 31, 2010, the ALLL was $1,478.0 million, down slightly from $1,482.5 million at the end of the prior year.  Expressed as a percent of period-end loans and leases, the ALLL ratio at March 31, 2010, was 4.00%, down slightly from 4.03% at December 31, 2009.  The ALLL as a percent of NALs was 84% at March 31, 2010, up from 77% at December 31, 2009.  

At March 31, 2009, the AULC was $49.9 million, up slightly from $48.9 million at the end of the last year. 
On a combined basis, the ACL as a percent of total loans and leases at March 31, 2009, was 4.14%, down slightly from 4.16% at December 31, 2009. The ACL as a percent of NALs was 87% at March 31, 2010, up from 80% at December 31, 2009. 

The provision for credit losses in the 2010 first quarter of $235.0 million was $3.5 million less than the $238.5 million in net charge-offs. 

Table 15 – Capital Ratios

The tangible common equity to asset ratio at March 31, 2010, was 5.96%, up from 5.92% at the end of the prior quarter.  Our Tier 1 common risk-based capital ratio at quarter end was 6.52%, down slightly from 6.69% at the end of the prior quarter. 

At March 31, 2010, our regulatory Tier 1 and Total risk-based capital ratios were 11.94% and 14.24%, respectively, down slightly 12.03% and 14.41%, respectively, at December 31, 2009.  The decline in our Tier 1 and Total capital ratios from December 31, 2009, was due to an increase in the deferred tax assets disallowed for regulatory capital purposes.  Both the Tier 1 and Total risk-based capital ratio declines were partially mitigated by lower risk-weighted assets at March 31, 2010.  On an absolute basis, our Tier 1 and Total risk-based capital ratios at December 31, 2009 exceeded the regulatory “well capitalized” thresholds by $2.5 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively.  The “well capitalized” level is the highest regulatory capital designation. 

 

2010 OUTLOOK

Commenting on 2010 performance expectation, Steinour noted, “The economy remains a major factor in determining the rate of improvement in our core performance.  Our assumption remains that it will be relatively stable for the rest of the year.” 

“We expect provision expense and net charge-offs will continue to be meaningfully below 2009 levels and show continued signs of improvement,” he noted.  “Our allowance for credit losses is expected to decline on an absolute basis from the March 31 level, as existing reserves are utilized by the inherent losses in the existing loan portfolio.  We expect growth in revenue.  Loans are expected to be flat-to-up slightly from first quarter levels, reflecting growth in C&I and certain consumer loans, most notably auto-related, offset by declines in commercial real estate loans as we continue to reduce that exposure.  The net interest margin is expected to remain relatively stable around 3.50%.  We also expect to see continued growth in core deposits.  Fee income is expected to be slightly higher from first quarter levels, primarily reflecting growth in asset management and brokerage and insurance revenue, offset by reductions in NSF/OD-related deposit service charges as the changes in the Federal Reserve’s regulations are implemented.  Expenses are anticipated to be up slightly from first quarter levels, reflecting investments in growing revenues and the continued roll-out of key strategic initiatives.”

“Taking these together, and consistent with what we have stated previously, we continue to target $275.0 million in pre-tax, pre-provision earnings for the 2010 third quarter,” he concluded.

Huntington’s senior management will host an earnings conference call on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time).  The call may be accessed via a live Internet webcast at www.huntington-ir.com or through a dial-in telephone number at (800) 267-7495; conference ID 65003628.  Slides will be available at www.huntington-ir.com about an hour prior to the call.  A replay of the webcast will be archived in the Investor Relations section of Huntington’s web site www.huntington.com.  A telephone replay will be available two hours after the completion of the call through April 30, 2010 at (800) 642-1687; conference ID 65003628.

Forward-looking Statement

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including certain plans, expectations, goals, projections, and statements, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those contained or implied by such statements for a variety of factors including: (1) deterioration in the loan portfolio could be worse than expected due to a number of factors such as the underlying value of the collateral could prove less valuable than otherwise assumed and assumed cash flows may be worse than expected; (2) changes in economic conditions; (3) movements in interest rates; (4) competitive pressures on product pricing and services; (5) success and timing of other business strategies; (6) extended disruption of vital infrastructure; and (7)  the nature, extent, and timing of governmental actions and reforms.  Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described above can be found in Huntington’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K, and documents subsequently filed by Huntington with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available at the time of the release. Huntington assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This earnings press release contains GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP financial measures where management believes it to be helpful in understanding Huntington’s results of operations or financial position. Where non-GAAP financial measures are used, the comparable GAAP financial measure, as well as the reconciliation to the comparable GAAP financial measure, can be found in this earnings release, the Quarterly Financial Review supplement to this release, the 2010 first quarter earnings conference call slides, or the Form 8‑K filed related to this release, which can be found on Huntington’s website at huntington-ir.com.

Pre-Tax, Pre-Provision Income

One non-GAAP performance metric that Management believes is useful in analyzing underlying performance trends is pre-tax, pre-provision income. This is the level of earnings adjusted to exclude the impact of:

Significant Items

From time to time, revenue, expenses, or taxes are impacted by items judged by Management to be outside of ordinary banking activities and/or by items that, while they may be associated with ordinary banking activities, are so unusually large that their outsized impact is believed by Management at that time to be infrequent or short-term in nature. We refer to such items as "Significant Items". Most often, these Significant Items result from factors originating outside the company – e.g., regulatory actions/assessments, windfall gains, changes in accounting principles, one-time tax assessments/refunds, etc.  In other cases they may result from Management decisions associated with significant corporate actions out of the ordinary course of business – e.g., merger/restructuring charges, recapitalization actions, goodwill impairment, etc. 

Even though certain revenue and expense items are naturally subject to more volatility than others due to changes in market and economic environment conditions, as a general rule volatility alone does not define a Significant Item. For example, changes in the provision for credit losses, gains/losses from investment activities, asset valuation writedowns, etc., reflect ordinary banking activities and are, therefore, typically excluded from consideration as a Significant Item.

Management believes the disclosure of “Significant Items” in current and prior period results aids analysts/investors in better understanding corporate performance and trends so that they can ascertain which of such items, if any, they may wish to include/exclude from their analysis of the company’s performance; i.e., within the context of determining how that performance differed from their expectations, as well as how, if at all, to adjust their estimates of future performance accordingly. To this end, Management has adopted a practice of listing “Significant Items” in its external disclosure documents (e.g., earnings press releases, investor presentations, Forms 10-Q and 10‑K).

"Significant Items" for any particular period are not intended to be a complete list of items that may materially impact current or future period performance. A number of items could materially impact these periods, including those described in Huntington’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other factors described from time to time in Huntington’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Annualized data

Certain returns, yields, performance ratios, or quarterly growth rates are presented on an “annualized” basis.  This is done for analytical and decision-making purposes to better discern underlying performance trends when compared to full year or year-over-year amounts.  For example, loan and deposit growth rates, as well as net charge-off percentages, are most often expressed in terms of an annual rate like 8%.  As such, a 2% growth rate for a quarter would represent an annualized 8% growth rate.

Fully-taxable equivalent interest income and net interest margin

Income from tax-exempt earnings assets is increased by an amount equivalent to the taxes that would have been paid if this income had been taxable at statutory rates.  This adjustment puts all earning assets, most notably tax-exempt municipal securities and certain lease assets, on a common basis that facilitates comparison of results to results of competitors.

Earnings per share equivalent data

Significant income or expense items may be expressed on a per common share basis. This is done for analytical and decision-making purposes to better discern underlying trends in total corporate earnings per share performance excluding the impact of such items.  Investors may also find this information helpful in their evaluation of the company’s financial performance against published earnings per share mean estimate amounts, which typically exclude the impact of Significant Items.  Earnings per share equivalents are usually calculated by applying a 35% effective tax rate to a pre-tax amount to derive an after-tax amount, which is divided by the average shares outstanding during the respective reporting period.  Occasionally, when the item involves special tax treatment, the after-tax amount is disclosed separately, with this then being the amount used to calculate the earnings per share equivalent.

NM or nm

Percent changes of 100% or more are typically shown as “nm” or “not meaningful” unless required.  Such large percent changes typically reflect the impact of unusual or particularly volatile items within the measured periods.  Since the primary purpose of showing a percent change is to discern underlying performance trends, such large percent changes are typically “not meaningful” for such trend analysis purposes.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $52 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Huntington has more than 144 years of serving the financial needs of its customers. Through our subsidiaries, including our banking subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, we provide full-service commercial and consumer banking services, mortgage banking services, equipment leasing, investment management, trust services, brokerage services, customized insurance service program, and other financial products and services.  Our over 600 banking offices are located in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Huntington also offers retail and commercial financial services online at huntington.com; through its technologically advanced, 24-hour telephone bank; and through its network of approximately 1,350 ATMs. The Auto Finance and Dealer Services group offers automobile loans to consumers and commercial loans to automobile dealers within our six-state banking franchise area.  Selected financial service activities are also conducted in other states including: Private Financial Group offices in Florida and Mortgage Banking offices in Maryland and New Jersey. International banking services are available through the headquarters office in Columbus and a limited purpose office located in the Cayman Islands and another in Hong Kong.

###