It was a grim day for the big banks

It was, simply put, a miserable day for large Florida banks.

Wachovia surprised with a nearly $9 billion loss, SunTrust profits fell 21 percent, Regions slashed its dividend and Fifth Third plopped into the red.

After some encouraging financial sector earnings in recent days, Tuesday's second-quarter reports provided ample evidence that banks continue to struggle with the credit crisis.

Wachovia, Florida's biggest bank by deposits, will try to stem the bleeding by cutting 10,750 jobs and shaving its dividend by 87 percent, to 5 cents from 37.5 cents.

The nation's fourth-largest bank lost $8.86 billion, or $4.20 per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $2.34 billion, or $1.22 per share.

Even excluding $6.1 billion write-down to the value of intangible assets, Wachovia lost $2.67 billion, or $1.27 per share.

Analysts had expected a loss of just 78 cents per share.

"Our reported results today are clearly a disappointing performance for which we take responsibility," CEO Bob Steel said in a conference call. "We are serious about getting on top of these issues quickly."

The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank will lay off 6,350 active workers and eliminate 4,400 open positions and contractors, many in the mortgage area.

Spokeswoman Kathy Harrison expects few job losses in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties, where the bank has 45 offices with $3.9 billion in deposits.

"There will be minimal impact to the Gulf Coast area," she said. "We know the lines of business and areas that will be most affected, and in that market it will be minimal."

Steel said the company will cut $2 billion in expenses by the end of 2009. Three rating agencies still downgraded their ratings on Wachovia's debt.

The company boosted its provision for loan losses to $5.57 billion from $179 million last year.

Some bank stocks were hit so hard early in the day that they later rebounded as buying opportunities. Wachovia's stock had dropped to mid-1991 levels in early trading.

SunTrust, the third-largest bank in Florida, said net income fell to $535.3 million, or $1.53 per share, from $673.9 million, or $1.89 per share, one year earlier.

The company sold 10 million shares of its Coca-Cola Co. holdings, which boosted earnings by 75 cents per share.

"Our capital position solidified during the quarter as a result of the Coke stock-related transactions, which make SunTrust even better prepared to address the challenges of the current environment, as well as strengthen our position for the long-term," said Chairman/CEO James M. Wells III.

The Atlanta-based bank set aside $448 million to cover bad loans, up from $104.7 million a year ago.

Second-quarter profits at Regions Financial Corp. fell 55 percent to $206.4 million, or 30 cents per share, from $453.3 million, or 63 cents per share.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Regions, the No. 4 bank in Florida, added $309 million to cover problem loans, up from just $60 million last year.

"Credit quality deterioration is today's overriding issue for financial services companies, and Regions is not immune," said Chairman/CEO Dowd Ritter.

The company trimmed its dividend to 10 cents from 38 cents to help conserve capital.

Fifth Third Bancorp swung to a second-quarter loss as it covered bad loans in Florida and elsewhere.

The bank posted a loss of $202 million, or 37 cents per share, compared with net income of $376 million, or 69 cents per share, a year earlier.

The Cincinnati-based company, owner of Florida's No. 8 bank, set aside $719 million to cover bad loans, nearly six times the amount from a year ago.

"Deteriorating credit trends remain disproportionately attributable to commercial and residential real estate loans, particularly in Florida and Michigan, and we continue to be very active in taking steps to address these issues that we and the industry are facing," said Chairman/CEO Kevin T. Kabat.

The company will rebound to a profit in the third quarter, barring any unexpected events, he said.