SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) July 15, 2004
WACHOVIA CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| North Carolina | 1-10000 | 56-0898180 | ||
| (State or other jurisdiction | (Commission | (IRS Employer | ||
| of incorporation) | File Number) | Identification No.) |
| One Wachovia Center Charlotte, North Carolina |
28288-0013 | |
| (Address of principal executive offices) | (Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code (704) 374-6565
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(c) Exhibits.
The following exhibits are being furnished or filed with this report:
| 99 | (a) | The Earnings News Release (as defined below) (solely furnished and not filed for purposes of Item 12). | |
| 99 | (b) | The Quarterly Earnings Report (as defined below) (solely furnished and not filed for purposes of Item 12). | |
| 99 | (c) | The Financial Statements (as defined below) (filed for purposes of Item 12). | |
Item 12. Results of Operations and Financial Condition.
On July 15, 2004, Wachovia Corporation (“Wachovia”) issued a news release announcing its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2004 (the “Earnings News Release”). The Earnings News Release is attached as Exhibit 99(a) to this report and is incorporated into this Item 12 by reference. In connection with issuing the Earnings News Release, Wachovia also made available its Second Quarter 2004 Quarterly Earnings Report (the “Quarterly Earnings Report”), which includes certain additional historical and forward-looking financial information relating to Wachovia. In addition, on July 15, 2004, Wachovia intends to hold a conference call/webcast to discuss the Earnings News Release and the Quarterly Earnings Report. The Quarterly Earnings Report is attached as Exhibit 99(b) to this report and is incorporated into this Item 12 by reference.
The information in the preceding paragraph, including Exhibit 99(a) and Exhibit 99(b), shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), nor shall it be incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”).
Wachovia’s Consolidated Balance Sheets and Consolidated Statements of Income, included as part of the Earnings News Release, are attached as Exhibit 99(c) to this report (the “Financial Statements”). Exhibit 99(c) is “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, and, therefore, may be incorporated by reference in filings under the Securities Act.
* * *
This Current Report on Form 8-K (including information included or incorporated by reference herein) may contain, among other things, certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, (i) statements relating to the benefits of the proposed merger (the “Merger”) between Wachovia
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and SouthTrust Corporation (“SouthTrust”), including future financial and operating results, cost savings, enhanced revenues and the accretion or dilution to reported earnings that may be realized from the Merger, (ii) statements relating to the benefits of the retail securities brokerage combination transaction between Wachovia and Prudential Financial, Inc. completed on July 1, 2003 (the “Brokerage Transaction”), including future financial and operating results, cost savings, enhanced revenues and the accretion of reported earnings that may be realized from the Brokerage Transaction, (iii) statements regarding certain of Wachovia’s goals and expectations with respect to earnings, earnings per share, revenue, expenses and the growth rate in such items, as well as other measures of economic performance, including statements relating to estimates of credit quality trends, and (iv) statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “may”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “projects”, “outlook” or similar expressions. These statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Wachovia’s management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that are subject to change based on various factors (many of which are beyond Wachovia’s control).
The following factors, among others, could cause Wachovia’s financial performance to differ materially from that expressed in such forward-looking statements: (1) the risk that the businesses of Wachovia and SouthTrust in connection with the Merger or the businesses of Wachovia and Prudential in connection with the Brokerage Transaction will not be integrated successfully or such integration may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; (2) expected revenue synergies and cost savings from the Merger or the Brokerage Transaction may not be fully realized or realized within the expected time frame; (3) revenues following the Merger or the Brokerage Transaction may be lower than expected; (4) deposit attrition, operating costs, customer loss and business disruption following the Merger or the Brokerage Transaction, including, without limitation, difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees, may be greater than expected; (5) the ability to obtain governmental approvals of the Merger on the proposed terms and schedule; (6) the failure of Wachovia’s or SouthTrust’s shareholders to approve the Merger; (7) the strength of the United States economy in general and the strength of the local economies in which Wachovia conducts operations may be different than expected resulting in, among other things, a deterioration in credit quality or a reduced demand for credit, including the resultant effect on Wachovia’s loan portfolio and allowance for loan losses; (8) the effects of, and changes in, trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (9) inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations; (10) adverse conditions in the stock market, the public debt market and other capital markets (including changes in interest rate conditions) and the impact of such conditions on Wachovia’s capital markets and capital management activities, including, without limitation, Wachovia’s mergers and acquisition advisory business, equity and debt underwriting activities, private equity investment activities, derivative securities activities, investment and wealth management advisory businesses, and brokerage activities; (11) the timely development of competitive new products and services by Wachovia and the acceptance of these products and services by new and existing customers; (12) the willingness of customers to accept third party products marketed by Wachovia; (13) the willingness of customers to substitute competitors’ products and services for Wachovia’s products and services and vice versa; (14) the impact of changes in financial services’ laws and regulations (including laws concerning taxes,
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banking, securities and insurance); (15) technological changes; (16) changes in consumer spending and saving habits; (17) the effect of corporate restructurings, acquisitions and/or dispositions, including, without limitation, the Merger (and any required divestitures related thereto) and the Brokerage Transaction, and the actual restructuring and other expenses related thereto, and the failure to achieve the expected revenue growth and/or expense savings from such corporate restructurings, acquisitions and/or dispositions; (18) the growth and profitability of Wachovia’s noninterest or fee income being less than expected; (19) unanticipated regulatory or judicial proceedings or rulings; (20) the impact of changes in accounting principles; (21) adverse changes in financial performance and/or condition of Wachovia’s borrowers which could impact repayment of such borrowers’ outstanding loans; (22) the impact on Wachovia’s businesses, as well as on the risks set forth above, of various domestic or international military or terrorist activities or conflicts; and (23) Wachovia’s success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing.
Wachovia cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning Wachovia or the Merger or other matters and attributable to Wachovia or any person acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Wachovia does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, relating to the matters discussed in this Current Report on Form 8-K.
The proposed Merger will be submitted to Wachovia’s and SouthTrust’s shareholders for their consideration, and, on July 9, 2004, Wachovia filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC containing a preliminary joint proxy statement/prospectus of Wachovia and SouthTrust and other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction with the SEC. Shareholders are urged to read the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the Merger when it becomes available and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any amendments or supplements to those documents, because they will contain important information. Shareholders will be able to obtain a free copy of the registration statement and the joint proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about Wachovia and SouthTrust, at the SEC’s Internet site (http://www.sec.gov). These documents also are available, free of charge, at www.wachovia.com under the tab “Inside Wachovia—Investor Relations” and then under the heading “Financial Reports—SEC Filings”. These documents also are available, free of charge, at www.southtrust.com under the tab “About SouthTrust”, then under “Investor Relations” and then under “SEC Documents”. Copies of the joint proxy statement/prospectus and the SEC filings that will be incorporated by reference in the joint proxy statement/prospectus can also be obtained, without charge, by directing a request to Wachovia Corporation, Investor Relations, One Wachovia Center, 301 South College Street, Charlotte, NC 28288-0206, (704)-374-6782, or to SouthTrust Corporation, P. O. Box 2554, Birmingham, AL 35290, (205)-254-5187.
Wachovia and SouthTrust, and their respective directors and executive officers, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Wachovia and SouthTrust in connection with the Merger. Information about the directors and executive officers of Wachovia and their ownership of Wachovia common stock is set forth in the proxy statement, dated March 15, 2004, for Wachovia’s 2004 annual meeting of shareholders, as filed
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with the SEC on a Schedule 14A. Information about the directors and executive officers of SouthTrust and their ownership of SouthTrust common stock is set forth in the proxy statement, dated March 8, 2004, for SouthTrust’s 2004 annual meeting of shareholders, as filed with the SEC on a Schedule 14A. Additional information regarding the interests of those participants and other persons who may be deemed participants in the transaction may be obtained by reading the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus regarding the proposed Merger when it becomes available. You may obtain free copies of these documents as described in the preceding paragraph.
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
| WACHOVIA CORPORATION | ||
| By: |
/s/ ROBERT P. KELLY | |
| Name: |
Robert P. Kelly | |
| Title: |
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | |
Date: July 15, 2004
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Exhibit Index
| Exhibit No. |
Description | |
| 99(a) | The Earnings News Release. | |
| 99(b) | The Quarterly Earnings Report. | |
| 99(c) | The Financial Statements. | |
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