Four big US banks have announced plans to sell more than $6 billion of shares in an effort to raise capital and repay funds received under the US government's bank bail-out programme.
US Bancorp plans to sell $2.5 billion of stock, and is also selling $1 billion of debt. Capital One Financial Corp sold $1.55 billion of stock, while BB&T Corp is selling $1.5 billion and KeyCorp $750 million.
BB&T also reduced its quarterly dividend by 68%, saving $725m a year, following 37 straight years of dividend increases.
The offerings were announced three days after Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley sold a combined $12.6 billion of stock. Morgan Stanley also sold $4 billion of debt.
The banks were among 19 lenders to undergo government 'stress tests' of their ability to weather a deep economic downturn.
US Bancorp, Capital One and BB&T were among the nine found not to need more capital, while KeyCorp was ordered to raise $1.8 billion. Regulators last week ordered 10 lenders overall, including Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, to raise a combined $74.6 billion.
Banks are scurrying to raise capital after improved investor sentiment caused shares in the sector to more than double from their lows in early March, despite worsening credit conditions in housing, commercial loans and credit cards.
