Comerica Raises Red Flag on CA Commercial Loans

DALLAS-Comerica Inc., doing a show-and-tell presentation, told analysts its gravest exposure lies in its Western residential market, specifically California where it has $700 million invested in 150 commercial loans with 85% on a watch list. To ease the risk, some properties are being sold and others have been turned over to brokers to be sold.

“Our capital position remains strong,” Ralph W. Babb Jr., chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Comerica, repeatedly emphasized to analysts at the Lehman Brothers Global Financial Services Conference, which wrapped up yesterday at the Hilton New York Hotel in New York City. Babb says a capital optimization strategy is in place and working. It includes reducing the number of new branch openings this year to 29 and staff cuts, where possible.

Ironically, Comerica started this week by declaring it is opening three centers in the San Diego area: Fenton Marketplace in Mission Valley, Hillcrest neighborhood and Carlsbad. Mission Valley is open and the other two will come on line in early 2009, taking the financial giant to 12 offices in San Diego County. Additional banks will open in Oakland, Los Angeles and Phoenix. In the past four years, Comerica has gone from 41 banks to 85 in the state and more on the way. Comerica, with 416 banking centers, will add four more locations this year in Phoenix, 10 in Texas, one in Florida and none in its former port, Michigan, where it operates 234 locations.