Huntington Bancshares Receives No Objection From The Federal Reserve For Proposed Capital Actions, Including An Increase Of The Quarterly Dividend To $0.05 Per Common Share And The Repurchase Of Up To $227 Million Of Common Stock

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN; www.huntington.com) was notified by the Federal Reserve that it had no objection to Huntington's proposed capital actions included in Huntington's capital plan submitted to the Federal Reserve in January of this year. These actions included a 25% increase in the dividend per common share to $0.05, starting in the second quarter of 2013, and the potential repurchase of up to $227 million of common stock through the first quarter of 2014. Huntington's Board of Directors is expected to consider the next quarterly dividend and share repurchase program at its April 16, 2013 meeting.

“Today’s action by the Federal Reserve highlights our strong capital levels and financial performance,” said Stephen D. Steinour, chairman, president and CEO of Huntington. “This action allows us to increase our common dividend and share repurchase authorization so that we can expand our disciplined approach to capital management. Reinvesting excess capital to organically grow the business remains our priority. Importantly, dividends and share repurchases provide us additional means of creating long-term shareholder value. Actual levels of dividends and share repurchases over time will depend on various factors, including earnings, growth opportunities, and market conditions.”

About Huntington

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $56 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. The Huntington National Bank, founded in 1866, provides full-service commercial, small business, and consumer banking services; mortgage banking services; treasury management and foreign exchange services; equipment leasing; wealth and investment management services; trust services; brokerage services; customized insurance brokerage and service programs; and other financial products and services. The principal markets for these services are Huntington’s six-state banking franchise: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kentucky. The primary distribution channels include a banking network of more than 690 traditional branches and convenience branches located in grocery stores and retirement centers, and through an array of alternative distribution channels including internet and mobile banking, telephone banking, and more than 1,350 ATMs. Through automotive dealership relationships within its six-state banking franchise area and selected other Midwest and New England states, Huntington also provides commercial banking services to the automotive dealers and retail automobile financing for dealer customers.

Forward-looking Statement

This document contains certain forward-looking statements, including certain plans, expectations, goals, projections, and statements, which are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as expect, anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, plan, target, goal, or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as will, may, might, should, would, could, or similar variations.

While there is no assurance that any list of risks and uncertainties or risk factors is complete, below are certain factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained or implied in the forward-looking statements: (1) worsening of credit quality performance due to a number of factors such as the underlying value of collateral that could prove less valuable than otherwise assumed and assumed cash flows may be worse than expected; (2) changes in economic conditions, including impacts from the implementation of the Budget Control Act of 2011 and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 as well as the continuing economic uncertainty in the US, the European Union, and other areas; (3) movements in interest rates; (4) competitive pressures on product pricing and services; (5) success, impact, and timing of our business strategies, including market acceptance of any new products or services implementing our “Fair Play” banking philosophy; (6) changes in accounting policies and principles and the accuracy of our assumptions and estimates used to prepare our financial statements; (7) extended disruption of vital infrastructure; (8) the final outcome of significant litigation; (9) the nature, extent, timing and results of governmental actions, examinations, reviews, reforms, and regulations including those related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; and (10) the outcome of judicial and regulatory decisions regarding practices in the residential mortgage industry, including among other things the processes followed for foreclosing residential mortgages. Additional factors that could cause results to differ materially from those described above can be found in Huntington’s 2012 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 document are based on information available at the time of the release. Huntington assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated
Analysts:
Todd Beekman, 614-480-3878
todd.beekman@huntington.com
or
Mark Muth, 614-480-4720
mark.muth@huntington.com
or
Media:
Maureen Brown, 614-480-5512
maureen.brown@huntington.com

Source: Huntington Bancshares Incorporated