Regions Bank repays U.S. Treasury

Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE: RF) has completed its repurchase of $3.5 billion of Series A preferred stock issued under the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The company - which operates three Regions Bank branches in Springfield, three in Branson and one each in Republic, Ozark, Bolivar, Aurora and Mount Vernon - announced March 14 a common stock public offering of 152.9 million shares at $5.90 per share for the purpose of TARP repayment.

The bank earned roughly $1.2 billion through the public offering and by completing its sale of Morgan Keegan & Co Inc., according to a news release.

According to the Treasury, Regions was the last big bank to repay TARP funds. Locally based institutions that participated in TARP - which was created with taxpayer money to aid banks during the recession - were Great Southern Bancorp, Guaranty Federal Bancshares Inc., Liberty Bancshares Inc. and Gregg Bancshares Inc.

Regions ended 2011 with a net loss of $215 million, a 60 percent increase compared to a loss of $539 million in 2010. The company is scheduled to release its first-quarter financial results April 24.

As of Dec. 31, Regions had $127 billion in assets across its roughly 1,700 branches in 16 states.

The company's shares were trading at $6.43 as of 10:06 a.m., compared to a 52-week range of $2.82 to $7.45.[[In-content Ad]]