U.S. Bancorp’s ability to withstand the worst of the economic downturn was earned by years of adhering to prudent credit standards, building a diversified mix of businesses, balancing efficient operations with investments for the future, and profitably growing our franchise.
Our disciplined actions throughout this cycle have served to preserve the strong foundation we have established, and the rewards of this disciplined approach can be seen in our improving credit quality and the growing momentum within our balance sheet and fee income businesses and on-going profitability.
Over the past ten years, our company has continued to build on its prudent, conservative, cost-conscious heritage to emerge as an even stronger company that outperforms its peer group, grows core revenue, increases market share and generates capital at industry-leading levels.
U.S. Bancorp’s consistent underwriting standards and credit process and our actions to effectively manage credit risk have served us well throughout the years, and never more so than during the last two. In the latter part of 2010, we enjoyed the priceless legacy of a conservative credit culture, reporting continued improvement in the company’s asset quality as net charge-offs, non-performing assets and delinquencies declined. Having credit costs under control positioned the company to be among the first banks to rebound in terms of growth.
As one of only three banks in our peer group to have been profitable every single quarter for the past three years, our operating model has proved strong and sustainable. Our performance, as measured by return on average assets, return on average equity, and efficiency, is consistently at the top of our peer group.
Our balance sheet is strong. We continue to generate a significant amount of capital each quarter and year, and we are confident that we can meet or exceed all future capital requirements, whether dictated by our own growing operations, the U.S. regulatory authorities, or the new Basel III international capital guidelines.
Most importantly, U.S. Bancorp is built on a foundation of doing the right thing for our shareholders, our customers, our employees and our communities.
Maintaining our strength, safety and stability
U.S. Bank’s diverse revenue streams and low-cost deposit base differentiate us from many banks. They are ongoing strengths, and have been especially beneficial during the economic downturn. Also, both will help offset pressure on future earnings resulting from recent legislation and regulation restricting banking activities which impacted our 2010 revenue by more than $415 million. U.S. Bank’s position of strength makes us more than able to manage the financial fallout of these new regulations.
We are committed to enhancing the customer experience and claiming the industry’s number one position in customer service. Building deeper relationships with our customers is one of the key ways we build satisfaction and loyalty while discovering new ways to better meet the needs of our customers.
