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KeyCorp posts $36M loss, prepares to seek $1B from feds
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
By James Schlett (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

KeyCorp this morning posted a third quarter net loss of $36 million, a big swing from a third-quarter 2007 profit of $210 million.
The company, which has 51 branches and 1,450 employees in the Capital Region, continued to see its balance sheets roiled by mounting bad loans.
The Cleveland bank holding company also disclosed its intention to receive over $1 billion under the U.S. Treasury Department’s plan to inject cash into banks in return for partial ownership of their stocks, part of the federal government’s latest $250 bank billion bailout package.
Despite those losses — along with a pending costly settlement with the Internal Revenue Service — Chief Executive Officer Henry Meyer III maintained a positive outlook. Investors rallied behind him, sending the companies stock up over 10 percent to $11.24 in the morning.
“In my 35 years in banking, we have successfully managed through a number of difficult credit cycles, and as I reflect on those cycles I cannot think of a time when we were more prepared than today,” Meyer said.