MAYAGUEZ, Puerto Rico, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- W Holding Company,
Inc. (NYSE: WHI), the financial holding company of Westernbank Puerto Rico,
announced today that the Company's Board of Directors authorized a
three-for-two (3 X 2) stock split of the Company's $1.00 par value common
stock to be paid on January 10, 2005, to stockholders of record as of December
31, 2004.
The split will have the effect of increasing the number of shares of the
common stock issued and outstanding as of November 30, 2004, from 107,071,886
to approximately 160,607,829. W Holding will pay cash to the stockholders in
lieu of fractional shares at a rate equal to the closing price of the stock as
of the record date, December 31, 2004.
Commenting on this action, Frank C. Stipes, Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer, stated: "The stock split is intended to further
enhance the liquidity and availability of the Company's stock to a larger
market by reason of price and number of outstanding shares. In order to know
what amount of shares each stockholder will receive, all they have to do is
multiply their holdings by 1.5. This will give them the amount of total shares
they own. Year to date, W Holding stock has increased over 21%, adding this
to its history and pattern of growth and continued appreciation, being the
past year, 2003, the most recent year with a consistent market value increase
of virtually 74% and, for the last three years, approximately 270%. However,
stockholders that acquired shares of the Company at the original stock
offering have experienced a total return over their original investment of
more than 20,000%, including cash dividends, which are distributed monthly."
As mentioned in our Letter to Stockholders in the 2003 Annual Report, we
feel extremely proud and honored by the results published in the Wall Street
Journal, March 8, 2004, whereby the Company was ranked among the "TOP GUNS,"
meaning the 20 best publicly held performing companies to the benefit of their
stockholders and investors. The only Bank on the list, it was the highest
performing financial company in total return to stockholders for over a
decade, and was included in the strongest of all categories, with an average
of 50.1% per year in a ten-year period.
W Holding's management expects to end this year with earnings in the
vicinity of $165.0 to $175.0 million, as market and economic conditions
permit, and break the $14.0 billion barrier in total assets. They also
recently informed that on Friday, October 22, 2004, W Holding's main
subsidiary, Westernbank Puerto Rico, opened the most advanced banking branch
in the world in the historic city of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
This press release may contain some information that constitutes "forward-
looking statements." Such information can be identified by the use of forward-
looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate,"
"estimate," "intend," "continue," or "believe" or the negatives or other
variations of these terms or comparable terminology. Forward-looking
statements with respect to future financial conditions, results of operations
and businesses of the Company are always subject to various risk and market
factors out of management's control which could cause future results to differ
materially from current management expectations or estimates and as such
should be understood. Such factors include particularly, but are not limited
to, the possibility of prolonged adverse economic conditions or that an
adverse interest rate environment could develop.
Westernbank Puerto Rico, a wholly-owned subsidiary of W Holding Company,
Inc., is the second largest commercial bank in Puerto Rico, based on total
assets, operating throughout 52 full-fledged branches, including 33 in the
Southwestern region of Puerto Rico, 7 in the Northeastern region, and 12 in
the San Juan Metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, and a fully functional banking
site on the Internet. W Holding Company, Inc. also owns Westernbank Insurance
Corp., a general insurance agent placing property, casualty, life and
disability insurance, whose results of operations and financial condition are
reported on a consolidated basis.
For further information, contact: Messrs. Frank C. Stipes, Freddy
Maldonado or Ricardo Hernandez, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial
Officer and the Company's Corporate Comptroller, respectively, at
(787) 834-8000; Internet: http://www.wholding.com
SOURCE W Holding Company, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.wbpr.com
CONTACT:
Frank C. Stipes, Chief Executive Officer,
Freddy Maldonado, Chief Financial Officer, or Ricardo Hernandez,
Corporate Comptroller, all of W Holding Company, Inc.,
+1-787-834-8000
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