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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Along with recapping its acquisition of a Michigan-based
bank, Huntington Bancshares watched its auto loan balance jump 20 percent
during the first quarter while its net charge-off amount dropped by nearly the
same level.

According to its latest financial report released earlier
this week, Huntington's first-quarter auto loan balance climbed by $1.1 billion
year-over-year, rising from $4.6 billion to $5.7 billion.

Touching on the auto segment gain, chairman, president and
chief executive officer Stephen Steinour insisted Huntington's vehicle loan and
lease contract activities are "performing as expected and taking full advantage
of the current market conditions."

Commenting on overall credit quality trends, Steinour added,
"The continued improvement in credit quality performance reflected the positive
results of the actions taken over the last three years to address credit-related
issues in our loan portfolio. Many of our credit quality performance metrics
remain elevated compared with long-term historical levels, and we expect
continued improvement."

Reflecting what Huntington's top executive noted, the
company's auto loan and lease net charge-offs came $3.1 million, or an
annualized 0.27 percent of related average balances, at the end of its first
quarter. That reading was down 27 percent from $4.2 million or an annualized
0.30 percent.

"These relatively low levels of net charge-offs reflected
the continued high credit quality of originations and a strong resale market
for used vehicles," Huntington executives explained in its Form 8-K to the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

Overall 1Q Performance

In other elements of its first quarter financial report, Huntington
generated a 21-percent increase in net income, pushing it up $26.4 million to $153.3
million from $126.9 million in the prior quarter. Earnings per common share in
the current quarter were 17 cents, up 3 cents from the prior quarter.

The company pointed out its net income in the year-ago quarter
was $126.4 million, or 14 cents per common share.

"We are very pleased with the quarter. By staying focused on
executing our strategic plan, we are making steady progress in improving
long-term profitability and adding to our earnings growth opportunities," Steinour
highlighted.

"This quarter's financial results contained two significant
items," he continued. "The first was a gain relating to our recently announced
FDIC-assisted purchase of Fidelity Bank in Dearborn, Mich. The other was an
addition to our litigation reserves. When looking at the performance adjusted
for those significant items, revenue is meaningfully higher with noninterest
expense, after considering seasonal FICA and other payroll taxes, basically
unchanged."

Company Outlook

Excluding potential future automobile loan securitizations, Huntington
anticipates an increase in total loans to modestly outpace growth in its total
deposits.

"This reflects our heightened focus on our overall cost of
funding and the continued shift towards low- and no-cost demand deposits and
money market deposit accounts," executives explained.

Steinour elaborated about Huntington's financial forecast
for the remainder of the year.

"Some of the encouraging signs seen late last year continued
to build throughout the quarter and drove modest economic growth," Steinour
stressed.

"Parts of the Midwest region are recovering faster than the
broader United States with lower levels of unemployment, resurgence in
manufacturing and budget surpluses for several states for the first time in
years," he highlighted. "While our footprint has clearly benefitted from this
recovery, the U.S. and global economies continue to experience elevated levels
of volatility and uncertainty. This requires that we remain cautious.

"As we have done since early 2010, we will continue to
execute our core strategy, making selective investments in initiatives to grow
long-term profitability," Steinour went on to say. "We will remain disciplined
in our growth, including the pricing of loans and deposits, and we are
encouraged by the net interest margin expansion this quarter. We continue to
expect credit quality improvement. We will stay focused on increasing customer
cross-sell and work to improve operating efficiency. We also have 18,000 new
Fidelity Bank customers, giving us a great opportunity to introduce them to our
products and services."