Banc One's earnings are expected to be about $1.25 billion lower due to the company's recent restructuring and acquisitions. As you may know, Banc One is the organization formed from the merger of Banc One Corp. and First Chicago NBD Corp. (See the November 1998 issue of GSQ, page 15, for more information on Banc One).
The decreased earnings for the end of 1998 and beginning of 1999 are due, in part, to an ATM program called Rapid Cash. The program was started in 1997 and was not as profitable as Banc One anticipated. Banc One will be reconsidering where their ATMs are placed in hopes of increasing profits.
It's not all bad news, though. Due to an investment in Concord EFS, which merged with Electronic Payment Services, Banc One will have a one-time pretax gain of $.08 a share in the first quarter.
Banc One is very clear and open about the decline in earnings. "What we're trying to do is look at the fourth quarter numbers and recognize these things,'' says Thomas Kelly, a spokesman at Banc One. "We're being proactive-making a decision and telling people about it.''
