MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 29, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- First Horizon National Corporation (NYSE:FHN) announced today that third quarter 2004 earnings will be negatively impacted primarily by a challenging environment in the fixed income markets, as well as a delay in the closing of a securitization. However, due to an increase in loans in the held for sale account as the securitization was delayed, the investment portfolio size was reduced, creating securities gains which will be recognized this quarter. As a result of these impacts, FHN anticipates earnings per share for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, 2004, to be in the range of $0.89 to $0.92.
"While we continue to experience an unusual level of decreased demand and activity in fixed income securities and we had to delay a securitization for non-market-related technical reasons, our core business trends remain strong," said First Horizon Chairman and CEO Ken Glass. "We continue to make progress in rebalancing the composition of our earnings this year, as retail/commercial banking should represent approximately 60 percent of our pre-tax earnings, up from 34 percent in 2003. Combining this year's performance with the last two years, earnings per share growth has outperformed the industry by 40 percent during this period."
Glass concluded, "As we have previously discussed, the nature of our business mix does incorporate the settlement of quarter-end transactions and the impact of short-term fluctuations in market conditions. While these events can impact a quarter's earnings, over the long term they don't significantly impact our earnings growth. Our strategies continue to work, and we are confident that our long-term growth rate should continue to outperform the industry as our national expansion, including the growth of our sales forces, continues to create growth opportunities."
FHN will host a conference call today, Sept. 29, 2004, at 4:00 p.m. CDT (5:00 p.m. EDT). Callers wishing to participate in the call may dial toll-free, 1-800-946-0742. The conference will be webcast live through the investor relations section of First Horizon's Web site. To access the webcast, visit HTTP://www.shareholder.com/ftb/medialist.cfm. A recording of this call will be available for the next two days by dialing 1-888-203-1112, passcode 904894.
In addition, First Horizon will release its third quarter and year-to-date 2004 financial results on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004, prior to the open of the financial markets.
OTHER INFORMATION
This press release contains forward-looking statements involving significant risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. Those factors include general economic and financial market conditions, including expectations of and actual timing and amount of interest rate movements, competition, investor responses to these conditions, ability to execute business plans, geo-political developments, items already mentioned in this press release, and other factors described in our recent filings with the SEC. FHN disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements included herein to reflect future events or developments.
GENERAL INFORMATION
About First Horizon
The 12,000 employees of First Horizon National Corp. (NYSE: FHN) provide financial services to individual and business customers through hundreds of offices located in more than 40 states. The corporation's three major brands -- FTN Financial, First Horizon and First Tennessee - provide customers with a broad range of products and services including:
- Capital markets, with one of the nation's top underwriters of U.S. government agency securities
- Mortgage banking, with one of the nation's top 15 mortgage originators and servicers, which earned a top-10 ranking in customer satisfaction from J.D. Power and Associates
- Retail/commercial banking, with the largest market share in Tennessee and one of the highest customer retention rates of any bank in the country
FHN companies have been recognized as some of the nation's best employers by AARP, Working Mother, Business Week and Fortune magazines. FHN also was named one of the nation's 100 best corporate citizens by Business Ethics magazine. More information can be found at www.FirstHorizon.com.