Surry Business

Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:WB) of Charlotte today reported net income of $1.69 billion, or 89 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2007. The dollar volume is down 10 percent from $1.88 billion, or $1.17 per share, in the third quarter of 2006.

After-tax net merger-related expenses amounted to 1 cent per common share in the third quarter of 2007 and 2 cents per common share in the third quarter of 2006. Excluding these expenses, earnings were $1.71 billion, or 90 cents per share, in the third quarter of 2007 and $1.90 billion, or $1.19 per share, in the third quarter of 2006.

“I’m very proud of our ability to provide capital, liquidity and advice to our customers and peers in the face of the disruption in the fixed income markets in the third quarter,” said Ken Thompson, Wachovia chairman and chief executive officer. “These conditions clearly had a disappointing impact on the results of market-oriented businesses, but the strength in our core banking and brokerage businesses continued to serve us very well.

“Our loan and deposit trends were solid, and our retail brokerage performance was strong — and poised for even more growth as our A.G. Edwards colleagues join our team. Additionally, the first of our World Savings branch and deposit conversions was completed successfully last weekend, and going forward, attention in our expanded platform returns fully to sales production.

“While the impact of the market disruption was significant, it’s worth noting that the majority of the lower market valuations in the third quarter largely arose from a repricing of risk in the marketplace and do not reflect deterioration in the underlying credit quality of the assets in our leveraged finance and commercial real estate securitization businesses.

“Looking ahead, we’re taking the appropriate steps to ensure that as markets remain unsettled, we focus intently on actively managing our exposures and controlling costs. Longer term, we believe the challenges of the third quarter will be an advantage to companies like Wachovia with strong capital and liquidity positions and a clear understanding of the needs of customers and investors.”

Wachovia has Surry County financial centers at 105 N. Crutchfield in Dobson, 1058 U.S. 52 South and 554 N. Main in Mount Airy and at 1500 N. Bridge St. and 102 W. Main in Elkin.