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                                                                      Exhibit 99

Independent Auditors' Report


Deloitte & Touch LLP
2500 One PPG Place
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
15222-5401

To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of First Community Bancshares, Inc.

         We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of First
Community Bancshares, Inc. and subsidiary as of December 31, 1999 and 1998, and
the related consolidated statements of income, changes in stockholders' equity
and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31,
1999. These financial statements are the responsibility of First Community
Bancshares, Inc.'s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on
these financial statements based on our audits.

         We conducted our audits in accordance with generally accepted auditing
standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are
free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis,
evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An
audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial
statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis
for our opinion.

         In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly,
in all material respects, the financial position of First Community Bancshares,
Inc. and subsidiary as of December 31, 1999 and 1998, and the results of their
operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended
December 31, 1999 in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles.


/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

Deloitte & Touche LLP
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
January 28, 2000