Feds give Columbus firm $973M bailout bucks

Synovus corporate headquarters along the Chattahoochee River in Columbus. (Dave Bender/file)

Synovus Financial Corp. said Friday it plans to issue stock and warrants to the Treasury Department for a $973 million capital infusion under the federal government's bank rescue plan.

Synovus said it expects to use the capital infusion to strengthen its capital base and enhance its lending capabilities.

"We are especially focused on opportunities to carefully expand our lending efforts to consumers and businesses as we all work through these challenging economic times," said Richard Anthony, the company's chairman and CEO.

Shares of Synovus rose 7 cents to $7.89 during the regular session Friday.

The $700 billion bailout plan is intended in part to help banks navigate the credit crunch and stabilize the nation's financial-services sector.

Many banks have been slammed by a sharp rise in mortgage defaults and freezing of credit markets, making them reluctant to lend to each other or to customers.

Synovus, based in Columbus, Ga., operates more than 300 bank branches in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about Synovus.

(AP)

Credit crisis hammers Aflac, Synovus 3Q numbers

Columbus-based Aflac Insurance and Synovus Financial Services are both reeling from the nationwide economic crisis.

Just-released third-quarter statements by both firms showed massive losses in investments and income from the same period last year.

Synovus's net income nosedived 85-percent to $66 million dollars over loan losses and defaulted mortgages.

Similarly, Aflac's net income tumbled 76-percent to $100 million dollars.

The insurer had close to 400 million dollars in shares in Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual and Ford Motor Company, among others.

Click here for more GPB business news coverage.

Synovus, Capital One cutting Columbus jobs

Columbus-based Synovus Financial Corporation said Wednesday they were cutting back 230 positions.

Company officials say that’s out of 650 posts in total among their five-state operation, and that over half the losses were due to attrition. The cutback will be spread over the next two years.

Synovus is Georgia’s second-largest banking institution.

In addition, The Associated Press reports that Capital One it will close its GreenPoint Mortgage
servicing center in Columbus, eliminating 220 jobs by the end of the year, including customer service, production support, collections and investor reporting.

Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding also plans to close its Mableton plant and lay off 103 employees this month.

Simmons Chairman and CEO Charlie Eitel says the Sept. 18 layoffs come amid "excess capacity" after the company expanded operations, and "difficult times" in the bedding and home furnishings industries.

Local manufacturing will move to plants in Waycross and Charlotte, N.C. The plant had reduced shifts from two to one this spring, cut about 50 jobs and transferred operations to a plant in Dallas.

The cutbacks come as 59,090 Georgians filed first-time unemployment claims in August, according to Department of Labor officials - a 72-percent rise since last year.

Click here for more GPB News coverage about the latest job cuts.

(The AP contributed to this report)

New air service to Columbus

The Eclipse 500 is part of a new airplane category called "very light jets," and carries three passengers at speeds up to 425 mph — faster than the average propeller plane its size. (Wilfredo Lee/AP file)

A regional business air-carrier has just added Columbus to its roster of destinations in Georgia and across the southeast. DayJet bills itself as the world's first per-seat, on-demand jet service.

The carrier currently serves 45 destinations across the southeast, catering to business travelers able to pay premium prices. For example, a hop between just-added destinations, Columbus and Savannah, runs between $300 and $1,000 dollars.

While DayJet is aimed chiefly at Columbus's executive clientèle like AFLAC and Synovus, Georgia Third District Congressman Lynn Westmoreland says the increased flight options will bolster smaller industries, as well:

"With the hassle of airports and major hubs, now, we just think this is going to be the access for a lot of businesses; some of these businesses in outlying areas to have a chance of promoting business and getting people to come to their area, because they'll now have this transportation for people within the business."

Westmoreland, who sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the aviation subcommittee says Ft. Benning's planned expansion will also benefit from the increased air traffic.

The training post is expected to see over 30,000 troops and dependents moving to the area over the next three years, as part of the Army's base relocation project:

"With the expansion of Ft. Benning, and all the things that Ft. Benning is doing, and the armor division coming down, and the new infantry museum... we just think that there needs to be just a little bit better regional service to the Columbus area. I think, right now, Delta has maybe two flights a day."

Westmoreland says DayJet may create a market more attractive to carriers like Delta, Airtran or Southwest.

A company spokesman says they'll be announcing other Georgia destinations in coming weeks.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of transportation issues.

Moody's: Synovus spinoff may hurt credit

Moody's Investors Service may cut its credit rating on Synovus Financial Corp. because of the bank's plan to spin off its stake in an electronic payments processor, the credit-rating agency said.

The Columbus, Ga.-based bank plans to spin off its 81 percent stake in TSYS to Synovus shareholders.

Moody's said it is concerned that by jettisoning a good source of profit, Synovus Financial may become more financially vulnerable.

Moody's said it is worried about Synovus' overexposure to real estate development and construction loans, which will become an even more concentrated portion of the company's portfolio after spinning off TSYS.

Chief Executive Richard E. Anthony said splitting the bank and the payments processor will allow each to flourish. TSYS is bound by certain restraints as a banking subsidiary, so spinning it off will remove those shackles. Meanwhile, Synovus will be able to focus exclusively on becoming the South's premier regional bank.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this story.

(The Associated Press)

Synovus spinning off TSYS

Synovus' Columbus headquarters. (Dave Bender)

Electronic payment processor TSYS (NYSE:TSS) said Thursday it will spin-off from parent Synovus Financial (NYSE:SNV) Corp. to become an independent company.

Financial services company Synovus, which owns an 81 percent stake in the company, will distribute all of its shares of TSYS common stock to Synovus shareholders.

Synovus CEO Richard E. Anthony, in a statement to stockholders said:

"This change presents an exciting opportunity for each company to focus exclusively on its core business, which we believe will lead to increased shareholder value."

Under terms of the agreement, TSYS will pay a one-time cash dividend of $600 million to all TSYS shareholders, including Synovus. The company plans to fund the dividend through a combination of cash on hand and a revolving credit facility. Based on the number of TSYS shares outstanding as of Sept. 30, TSYS expects its shareholders to receive a cash dividend of about $3.04 per share.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2007, subject to certain conditions, including the approval of the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance.

(With The Associated Press)

Click here for more GPB News Georgia business coverage.

Columbus: Synovus weighing spinning off TSYS

The Columbus-based bank-holding firm which owns almost over 80-percent of TSYS, made the statement on Tuesday as part of their second-quarter earnings report.

Both companies have formed board-level committees to consider the step, and expect to make their decision by the third quarter, according to a report in the Ledger-Enquirer newspaper.

TSYS has over 6,700 employees in their American, Latin American, European and Asian operations.