BB&T Continues To See Growth In Insurance

NU Online News Service, Jan. 26, 4:05 p.m. EST

BB&T Corp. reported its insurance brokerage division continued to grow in the fourth quarter, primarily on the strength of acquisitions.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based bank reported Friday that insurance income in the fourth quarter rose more than 5 percent, or $13 million, to $260 million.

For the year, insurance income was up close to 13 percent, or $119 million, to $1.05 billion.

The company said the growth was primarily from growth in property and casualty fees and acquisitions.

Kelly S. King, BB&T's chairman and chief executive officer, said while the insurance segment's growth was primarily from acquisitions, "it is growth and it takes work."

During the fourth quarter, BB&T Insurance Services expanded its southwest Florida operation with the acquisition of Oswald Trippe and Company of Fort Myers, Fla. That and the acquisition of Colonial Bank in August will expand the company's presence in southwest Florida.

For the bank as a whole, net income dropped $113 million in the quarter to $194 million. This translated to earnings per share of 27 cents compared to 51 cents for the same period in 2008.

For the year, net income stood at $877 million, or $1.24 a share, down $652 million from the same period in 2008.

Mr. King noted that the company's earnings beat analyst's estimates by 6 cents a share. He said that housing was the biggest problem primarily in Florida, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

He called the company's result solid, but remarked that there is a lot of uncertainty in the economy.

"Clearly things are improving and recession is clearly over, technically," said Mr. King.

He said the conversation in Washington over the economy "needs to slow down" and be less heated. There needs to be more small business lending, something BB&T is pushing by taking a second look at denied loans.

"If it is a loan we can make, we're going to make it," he said.

"I think we are finding the bottom," added Mr. King, saying he is extremely optimistic about the rest of the year "and not to let the bumps of the next two or three quarters" rattle investors.