Summary: Fifth Third Bancorp

A solid earnings platform, demonstrating the bank's strong franchise Strong market position as a major Midwestern bank Adequate capitalization levels, with proven ability to access the capital markets Historically weak, but stabilizing, asset quality Average funding and adequate liquidity, but slightly weaker than peers' The stable outlook on Fifth Third Bancorp reflects Standard&Poor's Ratings Services' expectation that the institution's diverse business activities and strong market position in the Midwest and select Southeastern metropolitan areas will continue to generate robust pretax, preprovision (PTPP) earnings. In addition, we expect that Fifth Third will sustain a Standard&Poor's risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio of approximately 8.25%-9% over the next 18-24 months, comfortably within the "adequate" category (7%-10%), as our criteria describe

...Outlook: Stable The stable outlook on Fifth Third Bancorp reflects Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' expectation that the institution's diverse business activities and strong market position in the Midwest and select Southeastern metropolitan areas will continue to generate robust pretax, preprovision (PTPP) earnings. In addition, we expect that Fifth Third will sustain a Standard & Poor's risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio of approximately 8.25%-9% over the next 18-24 months, comfortably within the "adequate" category (7%-10%), as our criteria describe the term. Lastly, we expect that Fifth Third's asset quality will continue to stabilize, with slowly declining nonperforming assets (NPAs) and net charge-offs (NCO) of less than 60 basis points of loans, on average, per quarter. We could lower the ratings if asset quality worsens. For example, we could lower the rating if Fifth Third's Standard & Poor's-adjusted NPA ratio were to approach 4%. We could also lower the rating if the growth...

Summary