Loading
You'd think that Fifth Third Bancorp would have had enough of Florida. But the Ohio-based bank's ill-timed entry into Florida and subsequent loan losses here haven't dampened bank executives' enthusiasm for the state's future.
Bloomberg News recently reported that Fifth Third might open more branches or acquire other lenders in Florida. “Florida and in the Southeast are markets that could benefit from additional investment,” the business-news service quoted Fifth Third Chief Financial Officer Daniel Poston telling analysts in Boston recently.
Fifth Third acquired Naples-based First National Bankshares of Florida for $1.6 billion at the peak of the market in 2005, paying 6.5 times tangible book value for the bank's $5.3 billion in assets and 77 branches from Tampa and Orlando to Naples. “Our timing of our entering the Florida market was not the best by any stretch of the imagination,” Bloomberg quoted Poston telling analysts.
In the bust that ensued, Florida accounted for a large percentage of bad loans and losses. For example, Florida accounted for 62% of Fifth Third's residential-mortgage losses in the third quarter.
Fifth Third hasn't acquired another bank in Florida since it bought all the deposits and a small percentage of the assets of Freedom Bank in Bradenton from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after regulators shut down the four-branch bank on Oct. 31, 2008. But if Fifth Third does make another acquisition in the state, it's a safe bet to say it won't overpay.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
