Credit worries whack big banks' market caps


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/21/08

Market jitters over the credit crisis have lopped billions of dollars from the market values of banks and shuffled the deck.

Some big players in the Atlanta market have especially taken a big hit in recent weeks.

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Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks has shed roughly $9 billion in market value since the end of last year, pushing it from the nation's 10th-largest bank in terms of market capitalization to 13th.

Likewise, Charlotte-based Wachovia, which is the second-biggest bank in the Atlanta market in terms of deposits, has seen its market capitalization drop nearly 50 percent, knocking it down two notches.

Market capitalization, a basic measure of market value, equals total shares outstanding multiplied by the company's share price.

SunTrust, Georgia's largest bank, especially had a rough time this week as a string of analysts warned that it and other banks faced more fallout from declining home values, the subprime loan meltdown and other problems.

After its stock price dropped nearly 25 percent this week, SunTrust issued a statement Friday aimed at reassuring investors, saying that it had no plans to cut its dividend or report bad-loan losses that were higher than earlier guidance.

SunTrust's statement may help it start climbing again: its shares jumped immediately from what would have been the four consecutive days of losses to a 5.5 percent gain, adding back roughly $680 million to its market capitalization.

CHANGING PLACES

RankBankJune 20 market capRankBankDec. 31, 2007, market cap
1JPMorgan Chase$131.7 billion1Bank of America$183.1 billion
2Bank of America$120.7 billion2Citigroup$147.0 billion
3Citigroup$104.8 billion3JPMorgan Chase$147.0 billion
4Wells Fargo$80.9 billion4Wells Fargo$99.5 billion
5US Bancorp$51.6 billion5Wachovia$74.5 billion
7Wachovia$37.6 billion7US Bancorp$54.8 billion
12BB&T$13.5 billion10SunTrust$21.8 billion
13SunTrust$13.1 billion13BB&T$16.6 billion

Source: Bloomberg News, KBW Bank Index

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