Regions Bank 2010 Annual Report Download - page 3

TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS:
As we refl ect on 2010, by any measure, Americans and the fi nancial
services industry continued to face challenges coming from a
stubbornly slow economic recovery. The U.S. economy grew less
than 3 percent and unemployment hovered just below 10 percent
for the year. The residential housing sector remained stressed,
refl ecting low consumer confi dence, continued unemployment
and low income growth. As we enter 2011, economic forecasts
give encouragement regarding job growth. However, it will take
substantial time before our nation recovers all of the 8.4 million
jobs that we lost in 2008 and 2009. It appears that we are on a
path to economic recovery, but the pace of recovery may prove to
be somewhat slow and incremental.
Our company continues to suffer losses caused mainly by high
unemployment and heavy concentrations in real estate in several
dominant southeastern markets. Florida, for example, fi nished
last year with unemployment peaking near 12 percent. The
state’s housing market continues to be hit especially hard, with
the foreclosure rate ending the year at 13.68 percent. Regions’
foreclosure rate in Florida was signifi cantly lower at 4.38 percent,
a direct result of our commitment to working with customers to
help them stay in their homes through our Customer Assistance
Program. Across our 16-state franchise, we’ve restructured
approximately 19,500 consumer real estate loans while more than
33,500 homeowners have received some type of assistance through
this program. As a result, Regions’ overall foreclosure rate is less
than half the national average. As we move forward in 2011, we
do anticipate a weak housing market and remain committed to
helping our customers navigate through these diffi cult times.