Exhibit 99.1
[ICON] Sovereign Bancorp NEWS RELEASE
Corporate Headquarters: 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pa
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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DATE: 3/6/03 FINANCIAL CONTACTS:
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Jim Hogan 610-320-8496 jhogan@sovereignbank.com
Mark McCollom 610-208-6246 mmccollo@sovereignbank.com
Tye Barnhart 610-988-0300 tbarnhar@sovereignbank.com
MEDIA CONTACT:
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Ed Schultz 610-371-3201 eschultz@sovereignbank.com
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Sovereign Bank Announces Debt Issuance
PHILADELPHIA, PA... Sovereign Bank ("Bank"), a subsidiary of Sovereign Bancorp,
Inc. ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), announced today an issuance of $500 million of
Bank subordinated notes. The notes will have a coupon of 5.165% and will mature
as of March 15, 2013.
James D. Hogan, Chief Financial Officer of Sovereign, said, "We are very pleased
with the execution of this transaction. As a result, we have significantly
increased Tier 2 Capital at both the Bank and Sovereign Bancorp and have also
increased the Bank's availability to pay dividends to the Bancorp."
The joint lead managers for the transaction were Lehman Brothers, Inc. and
Salomon Smith Barney. Co-managers were Goldman, Sachs & Co., Bear, Stearns & Co.
Inc., Friedman Billings Ramsey, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., and Sandler
O'Neill & Partners, L.P.
A live web-cast conference was held on February 27, 2003 discussing Sovereign's
broader asset and liability management and capital plans. A replay of this
web-cast can be accessed anytime through 6:00 pm ET March 21, 2003. An
electronic presentation document can be accessed at
http://ir.thomsonfn.com/IRUploads/8271/FileUpload/Restructuring.ppt or at
www.sovereignbank.com =>Investor Relations=>Financial Reports=>Corporate
Presentations. The presentation document serves as a reference and summary for
the web-cast.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") headquartered in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, a $40 billion financial
institution with approximately 525 community banking offices, over 1,000 ATMs
and about 7,500 team members in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. Sovereign is among the 25
largest banking institutions in the United States. For more information on
Sovereign Bank, visit www.sovereignbank.com or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
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Note:
This press release contains statements of Sovereign's strategies, plans, and
objectives, as well as estimates of future operating results for 2003 and beyond
for Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. as well as estimates of financial condition,
operating efficiencies and revenue generation. These statements and estimates
constitute forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), which involve significant risks and
uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results discussed
in these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference
include, but are not limited to, general economic conditions, changes in
interest rates, deposit flows, loan demand, real estate values, competition,
terrorist attacks, armed conflicts involving the U.S. Military; changes in
accounting principles, policies, or guidelines; changes in legislation or
regulation; and other economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, and
technological factors affecting the Company's operations, pricing, products and
services. Operating earnings may differ from net income due to items such as
merger-related charges, balance sheet restructuring charges, and certain other
non-recurring items.
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