Moving Money
Banc One has been taking advantage of owning a major Texas franchise, a company executive said at recent Salomon Brothers conference.
The Ohio giant has been transferring or selling some of its Midwestern loan portfolios to its Texas subsidiaries to benefit from the lower cost of funds there. Banc One did not offer a precise amount, but a spokesman said the figure was "a small amount."
The loan-to-deposit ratio in Texas is an extremely low 50%, compared with 90% in the Midwest. The Texas economy has rebounded more slowly than Banc One originally planned when it purchased MBank, slowing Banc One's ability to lend in the region.
That slow Texas rebound was one reason that Banc One noted to explain its withdrawal from bidding for Bank of New England. Chairman John McCoy said that he did not want Banc One to be mired in two depressed regions simultaneously.
