It's no secret that BB&T Corp. has been itching to put some of its excess capital to work.
But on Thursday, the bank's chief financial officer, Daryl Bible, made it clear that of the various ways to do that, making an acquisition is the company's first choice. Authorizing a special dividend or a share buyback doesn't make much sense, he said, if three to six months later an opportunity for an acquisition comes along.
"We believe that there is still the ability and desire for some consolidation to occur," Bible said during a presentation at a financial services conference sponsored by RBC Bank. "If we can't get acquisitions done, then we'll go back and adjust our capital plan with the regulators."
Last month, the Winston-Salem, N.C., banking company was among the first big banks to increase its dividend after it got the green light from regulators. The bank declared a quarterly dividend of 16 cents in the most recent quarter, up 7% from the previous quarter. BB&T has been pegged as a possible buyer of RBC Bank, Royal Bank of Canada's U.S. arm.
