Earlier this week,
Fifth Third Bancorp
(
FITB
) joined the bandwagon of major financial institutions and
announced the redemption of trust preferred securities (TruPS)
worth $575 million. These include the redemption of 7.25% TruPS
issued by Fifth Third Capital Trust V. Over the last couple of
weeks, banks have been redeeming TruPS since these will no longer
qualify for Tier 1 capital ratio calculations beginning 2013.
Fifth Third stated that these preferred securities will be redeemed
at $25 per trust preferred share. The redemption amount will also
include accrued and unpaid distributions until the redemption date
arrives.
The TruPS redemption will take place on August 15, 2012, with
Wilmington Trust Company, a subsidiary of
M&T Bank Corporation
(
MTB
), as the paying agent.
Fifth Third's decision to redeem TruPS follows the announcement of
the new capital rules by the Federal Reserve in June 2012. As per
the new proposal, the TruPS issued prior to May 19, 2010 would not
be considered for the calculation of Tier 1 capital ratio.
Similar Actions
Apart from Fifth Third, many other banks have announced the
redemption of TruPS in the last few weeks.
TCF Financial Corporation
(
TCB
) announced the redemption of $115 million in TruPS,
Bank of America Corporation
(
BAC
) announced the redemption of $3.9 billion in TruPS,
BB&T Corporation
(
BBT
) announced the redemption of $3.1 billion in TruPS, while
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
(
JPM
) would be redeeming nearly $9 billion in TruPS.
Further,
SunTrust Banks Inc.
(
STI
) stated that it will be redeeming TruPS worth nearly $1.19
billion.
Citigroup Inc.
(
C
), whose extra capital deployment request was rejected by the Fed,
has also announced the redemption of TruPS.
Conclusion
TruPS redemption is viewed as a positive step for the banks,
enabling them to bring down interest expenses, as these securities
demand higher rates than other securities and often the banks
replace TruPS with equity or other low-cost debt. Further,
according to the Dodd-Frank Act, banks will no longer be able to
consider these securities as regulatory capital beginning 2013.
Fifth Third recently bought back shares worth $75 million,
according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The share buybacks were made as per the regulatory
approval that the company received in March and were supported by
the realized gains from the Vantiv IPO.
Notably, according to the 2012 stress test results, Fifth Third was
allowed to make this share buyback from the gains of the Vantiv
IPO, formerly Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC. Moreover, the
company got the permission to continue its quarterly common
dividend at 8 cents per share and redeem up to $1.4 billion in
certain TruPS.
We believe that with a diversified traditional banking platform,
Fifth Third remains well poised to benefit from a recovering
economy. Its traditional commercial banking franchise and solid
market share in key markets will bode well going forward. However,
regulatory issues and competitive pressures are the headwinds for
the stock.
Fifth Third currently retains a Zacks #3 rank, which translates
into a short-term 'Hold' rating. Considering the fundamentals, we
also maintain a long-term 'Neutral' recommendation on the stock.
BANK OF AMER CP (BAC): Free Stock Analysis
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BB&T CORP (BBT): Free Stock Analysis Report
CITIGROUP INC (C): Free Stock Analysis Report
FIFTH THIRD BK (FITB): Free Stock Analysis
Report
JPMORGAN CHASE (JPM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
M&T BANK CORP (MTB): Free Stock Analysis
Report
SUNTRUST BKS (STI): Free Stock Analysis Report
TCF FINL CORP (TCB): Free Stock Analysis Report
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