WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement can
be attributed to Darrell D. Pittard, Chairman and CEO of Premier Bancshares
Inc.:
"I am pleased to send you a copy of our press release announcing the
completion of our merger with BB&T Corporation, which was effective yesterday.
Also, I have included a copy of BB&T's very impressive earnings release. We
are very excited about joining a top performing organization that will build
upon the success that Premier has experienced.
"Premier Bancshares appreciates your support and interest in our company
over the past six years." -- Darrell D. Pittard
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Jan. 14 -- BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) completed
late Thursday its acquisition of Atlanta-based Premier Bancshares Inc.
(NYSE: PMB).
The $501 million transaction, accounted for as a pooling of interests,
gives BB&T its third Georgia bank and the eighth largest share of deposits in
metropolitan Atlanta.
Premier common shareholders will receive 0.5155 share of BB&T stock for
each share of Premier common stock they own. The deal is valued at $14.50 per
Premier share, based on BB&T's closing price of $28.125 on Thursday.
Premier, with $2 billion in assets, operates 32 banking offices in Atlanta
and North Georgia and 10 mortgage banking offices through a subsidiary,
Premier Lending. The names will change to BB&T at systems conversion scheduled
for the third quarter.
The third largest home-based bank in Georgia, Premier primarily operates
in four of the nation's fastest growing counties: Gwinnett, Cobb, Forsyth and
Henry. Premier also operates banking offices in Baldwin, Barrow, Chattooga,
DeKalb, Fulton, Glynn, Greene, Hall and Spalding counties.
In 1999, BB&T acquired First Citizens Corp. of Newnan, Ga., and First
Liberty Financial Corp. of Macon, Ga., and agreed to acquire Hardwick Holding
Company of Dalton, Ga., and Statesboro-based First Banking Company of
Southeast Georgia.
Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corporation, with $45.5 billion in assets,
operates 655 banking offices in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland,
Washington, D.C., West Virginia and Kentucky.
BB&T reports record earnings for 1999; 4th quarter earnings increase 19.3%
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- BB&T Corporation reported today record 1999
earnings totaling $659.1 million, or $1.97 per diluted share, before
nonrecurring charges primarily associated with the completion of mergers and
acquisitions, which totaled $46.2 million after taxes. Excluding nonrecurring
charges, net income for 1999 increased 17.5% compared to recurring results in
1998 and diluted earnings per share increased 16.6% compared to 1998. BB&T's
1999 full-year results, excluding nonrecurring charges, represent a return on
average assets of 1.57% and a return on average shareholders' equity of
20.60%, compared to prior year ratios of 1.51% and 19.11%, respectively.
For the fourth quarter of 1999, BB&T's net income before nonrecurring
charges totaled $174.9 million, an increase of 19.3% compared to $146.6
million earned on a recurring basis in 1998. Results for the current quarter,
excluding $16.1 million in after-tax nonrecurring charges, produced recurring
diluted earnings per share of $.52, compared to $.44 in the fourth quarter of
1998, an increase of 18.2%. Excluding nonrecurring charges, BB&T's annualized
return on average assets for the fourth quarter of 1999 was 1.60%, and the
annualized return on average shareholders' equity for the quarter was 21.38%,
placing BB&T among industry leaders in terms of performance.
"We are very pleased to report excellent fourth quarter results and record
earnings for 1999," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John A. Allison.
"We set high goals for our performance in 1999 and have been successful in
achieving substantially all of our financial and strategic objectives.
Unfortunately, our stock price has declined despite these excellent results.
Financial stocks have been depressed by concerns that rising interest rates
will affect future earnings and by disappointing results reported by some
individual banks. We remain optimistic that 2000 will be another strong year
for BB&T. Our business is doing very well."
Including nonrecurring charges, net income for 1999 totaled $612.8
million, an increase of 12.8% compared to $543.2 million earned in 1998. On a
diluted per share basis, net income for 1999 was $1.83, an increase of 12.3%
compared to $1.63 earned in 1998. For the fourth quarter, net income,
including nonrecurring charges, was $158.8 million, or $.47 per diluted share,
compared to $139.6 million, or $.42 per diluted share earned last year,
increases of 13.7% and 11.9%, respectively.
BB&T's "cash basis" operating results, which exclude the effects of
intangible assets and related amortization expenses, improved significantly in
the fourth quarter of 1999 compared to 1998. Cash basis earnings, excluding
nonrecurring merger-related costs, totaled $187.4 million for the fourth
quarter of 1999, or $.56 per diluted share, increases of 20.4% and 21.7%,
respectively, compared to prior year results. For the year, recurring cash
basis earnings totaled $703.6 million, or $2.10 per diluted share, increases
of 19.6% and 18.6%, respectively, over 1998 results. Cash basis earnings for
1999 generated a return on average tangible assets of 1.70% and a return on
average tangible equity of 26.46%.
"Among our primary strategic objectives for 1999 was an enhanced focus on
profitability with a target of performing in the top 5% in our industry," said
Allison. "We received recognition from three independent studies of banks
during the year, each of which ranked BB&T among the highest performing bank
holding companies in the nation based on a number of factors, including
profitability, growth, expense control and asset quality. Based on these
studies and internally-prepared evaluations, we believe that BB&T has become
one of the industry's top performing institutions."
BB&T continued to expand its franchise in 1999 through a number of bank
and non-bank mergers and acquisitions. In March, BB&T merged with MainStreet
Financial Corporation, headquartered in Martinsville, Va., and Scott &
Stringfellow Financial, Inc., an investment banking firm located in Richmond,
Va. In the second quarter of 1999, BB&T completed an acquisition of Mason-
Dixon Bancshares, Inc. of Westminster, Md., and in the third quarter, BB&T
acquired Matewan BancShares Inc., based in Williamson, W.Va.
BB&T made significant progress toward building a Georgia franchise during
1999 through five transactions. On July 9, BB&T acquired First Citizens
Corporation of metro Atlanta, Ga. On Nov. 19, BB&T completed its merger with
First Liberty Financial Corp. of Macon, Ga. In addition to these two completed
transactions, BB&T announced agreements to acquire Premier Bancshares of
Atlanta, Ga., Hardwick Holding Company of Dalton, Ga. and First Banking
Company of Southeast Georgia, which is located in Statesboro. When these
transactions are all completed, BB&T will be the eighth largest bank in
Georgia with assets of approximately $5.1 billion.
BB&T also rapidly grew its independent insurance agency network through
acquisitions of twelve independent agencies and the purchase of the book of
business of another agency. Based on revenues, BB&T Insurance Services is the
12th largest independent agency network and the second largest bank-owned
agency in the country.
At Dec. 31, 1999, BB&T had $43.5 billion in assets and 655 banking offices
in the Carolinas, Georgia, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland and
Washington, D.C. BB&T's common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange
under the trading symbol BBT. The closing price of BB&T's common stock on Jan.
11 was $25.38 per share.
For additional information about BB&T's financial performance, products
and services, please visit our web site at http://www.BBandT.com.
BB&T's news releases are available at no charge through PR Newswire's
Company News On-Call facsimile service. For a menu of BB&T's news releases or
to retrieve a specific release, call 800-758-5804, extension 809325.
SOURCE Premier Bancshares Inc.
 back to top
Related links:
http://www.BBandT.com
CONTACT:
analysts, Tom Nicholson, Senior Vice
President, Investor Relations, 336-733-3058, or Scott E. Reed,
Sr. Exec. Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, 336-733-3088,
both of BB&T Corporation, or media, Bob Denham, Vice President,
Public Relations of BB&T Corporation, 336-733-1002, or Darrell D.
Pittard, Chairman and CEO of Premier Bancshares, 404-814-3090
|
