American financial holding company Comerica has reported fourth quarter 2008 net income applicable to common stock of $3 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, compared to $119 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter 2007.
Net income applicable to common stock for 2008 was $196 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, compared to $686 million, or $4.43 per diluted share, for 2007.
Non-interest income was $174 million for the fourth quarter 2008, compared to $240 million for the third quarter 2008, and $230 million for the fourth quarter 2007.
Ralph Babb Jr., chairman and CEO of Comerica, said: Our capital position is strong. Our tier one capital ratio is estimated to be 10.67% at December 31, 2008. In addition, the quality of our capital is solid, as evidenced by a tier one common capital ratio of 7.08% and a tangible common equity ratio of 7.21%.
Within this uncertain economic environment, we are working diligently to leverage our strong capital, which was enhanced by our participation in the U.S. Treasury Department’s capital purchase programme.
We are focused on controlling expenses, as evidenced by several initiatives to streamline operations and leverage technology. We have reduced our workforce by about 5% since the end of 2007 and expect to reduce it another 5%, largely to be completed by the end of the first quarter. In addition, we are freezing salaries in 2009 for the top 20% of our workforce. We also plan to slow our banking centre expansion programme and will continue to reduce our capital expenditures and discretionary expenses in this challenged environment.
