2000 Financial Performance
Reported earnings for the year were $329.1 million, or $.86 per share. Earnings from 2000 included charges related to the merger, the financial restructuring in the third quarter, and for certain business divestitures. Excluding these items, earnings were approximately $1.46 per diluted share. On the same basis, return on equity was 19.8 percent, return on assets was 1.34 percent and the efficiency ratio was 55.06 percent.

Fourth-quarter 2000 earnings were $126.6 million or $.34 per diluted share. Our return on equity for the fourth quarter was 18.26 percent, our return on assets was 1.30 percent and our fourth-quarter efficiency ratio was 52.25 percent.

2000 Key Accomplishments
The smooth integration of First American in 2000 stands as a tribute to our 12,000 employees and their ability to successfully execute our integration plan in a short period of time. The plan, which included more than 500,000 hours of employee education and training, had one overriding goal — to sustain high levels of customer service throughout the integration. We monitored results constantly and were especially pleased when research confirmed that the high customer-retention levels we were achieving in newly converted markets were on par with our historically strong retention rates in AmSouth’s traditional markets.