Branch Banking And Trust Company

Banks seeking to foreclose on Southern Nevada commercial properties

Carnage from the recession continues in the Las Vegas commercial real estate market, with banks moving to foreclose on additional properties.

Among the latest to be hit with a foreclosure filing was a real estate investment company called Tropicana Partners 2, which has three strip malls in Las Vegas and Henderson.

Tropicana Partners 2, controlled by investors Barry Ford of San Jose, Calif., and William Sousa of Saratoga, Calif., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on April 1 in hopes of blocking foreclosure proceedings and salvaging its business.

The company listed assets of $8 million against liabilities of $15.5 million.

With the recession appearing to have affected occupancy at its centers, the company said its income fell from $1 million in 2009 to just above $818,000 in 2010.

On Wednesday, secured lender Branch Banking & Trust Co. of Winston-Salem, N.C. asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Las Vegas for permission to foreclose on the properties, saying Tropicana Partners 2 has no equity in the developments and "the current value of the property is significantly less than the secured indebtedness."

"In the current real estate market, there is no possibility of selling or refinancing the property to generate sufficient monies to pay off the BB&T secured loans," said the filing by the bank, which picked up the mortgage loans when it acquired certain assets of the failed Colonial Bank on Aug. 14, 2009.

The properties listed in the foreclosure filing are at 5693 S. Jones Blvd. and 9827 W. Tropicana Ave. in Las Vegas and at 594 N. Stephanie St. in Henderson.

Attorneys for the bank said in their filing that Tropicana Partners 2 is in default on the loans encumbering the properties and that $5.6 million is due on the Jones Boulevard loan, $4.2 million is due on the Tropicana Avenue loan and that $5.6 million is due on the Stephanie Street mortgage.

They added in their filing, "The property has already declined in value significantly since the various loans have matured and the debtor filed for protection under Chapter 11. Moreover, BB&T’s secured position will continue to further erode as unpaid tax liabilities continue to accrue on the property."

Attorneys for Tropicana Partners 2 have not yet responded to the request that the bank be allowed to seize the properties.

In another Las Vegas commercial real estate bankruptcy, TBG Development I LLC filed for Chapter 11 on April 14.

BB&T (BBT) Hits New 52-Week Low at $20.93 – American Banking News

Shares of BB&T (BBT) hit a new 52-week low on Monday. The stock traded as low as $20.93 during mid-day trading and last traded at $21.70. The stock previously closed at $23.31.

Separately, analysts at Rochdale Securities upgraded shares of BB&T from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note to investors on Tuesday, July 26th. Also, analysts at Nomura (NYSE: NMR) downgraded shares of BB&T from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research note to investors on Friday, July 8th.

BB&T Corporation (BB&T) is a financial holding company. The Company conducts its business operations primarily through its commercial banking subsidiary, Branch Banking and Trust Company (Branch Bank). Branch Bank has offices in North Carolina, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Nevada, Texas, Washington D.C and Indiana. In addition, BB&T’s operations consist of a federally chartered thrift institution, BB&T Financial, FSB (BB&T FSB), and several nonbank subsidiaries, which offer financial services products. Branch Bank provides a range of banking and trust services for retail and commercial clients in its geographic markets, including small and mid-size businesses, public agencies, local governments and individuals. On August 14, 2009, BB&T acquired certain assets and all of the deposits of Colonial Bank (Colonial). In January 2010, Branch Bank exited the Nevada markets.

BB&T has a 52 week low of $21.72 and a 52 week high of $29.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.78 and its 200-day moving average is $26.7. The company has a market cap of $14.962 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.27.

BB&T last announced its quarterly results on Thursday, July 21st. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the previous quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of $0.43 EPS by $0.01. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that BB&T will post $0.51 EPS next quarter.

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