STI 2018 Annual Report

31 During the year, we increased our quarterly common stock dividend by 25%, beginning in the third quarter of 2018, which resulted in dividends for 2018 of $1.80 per common share, an increase from $1.32 per common share in 2017. We also repurchased $1.9 billion of our outstanding common stock during the year, which included $660 million under our 2017 capital plan and $1.25 billion in conjunctionwith the 2018 capital plan. In January 2019, we repurchased an additional $250million of our outstanding common stock under the 2018 capital plan pursuant to an SEC Rule 10b5-1 repurchase plan entered into on November 6, 2018. Given the aforementioned Merger announcement in February 2019, we do not intend to utilize our remaining share repurchase capacity of $500 million under the 2018 capital plan. See the “Recent Event” section above for more on the Merger announcement. For additional details related to our capital actions and share repurchases, refer to the “Capital Resources” section of this MD&A and Part II, Item 5 of this Form 10-K. Business Segments Highlights Consumer Our investments across Consumer Lending, together with our strategic partnerships, have collectively improved our growth, returns, and the diversity of our portfolio. Enhanced marketing and analytics, new product offerings, and increased referrals have been key contributors to our growth in LightStream and direct consumer lending, including point-of-sale digital financing. Net interest income increased $329 million, or 8%, compared to 2017, as a result of continued loan growth and improved deposit spreads. Noninterest income decreased $101 million, or 5%, compared to 2017, due primarily to lower mortgage-related income as a result of lower refinance volume and lower gain on sale margins. The decline in noninterest income was offset slightly by wealth management-related income where we are observing positive underlying trends, including a $4.2 billion increase in new production assets under management during 2018. The average balance of our LHFI portfolio increased $1.8 billion, or 3%, compared to 2017. We continue to deliver high quality loan growth, reflecting our consistent underwriting discipline and conservative risk posture. This is evidenced by our new production FICOs within consumer lending, which averaged 766 in 2018, stable compared to 2017. Our loan growth during 2018 was funded entirely with deposit growth. Our targeted focus on CDs attracted both new clients and existing clients and generated approximately $2.8 billion in average CD growth compared to 2017. We delivered strong operating leverage in 2018, resulting in 200 basis points in efficiency improvement. Our efficiency ratio was 66.5% for 2018, compared to 68.5% for 2017. The decreasewas due primarily to improved revenues combinedwith our ongoing expense discipline which allowed us to make significant progress towards our medium term objectives. This improvement was driven by a number of actions including organizational restructuring, increased automation, and increased digital adoption. We have also made significant strides in improving the client experience, driven largely by our investments in technology. During 2018, we introduced a fully digital mortgage application, SmartGUIDE, which streamlines our underwriting process. For our private wealth clients, we introduced a new digital client portal to provide them with enhanced financial planning tools and a holistic view of their financial position. These investments, combined with our talented team, played a significant role in the national recognition we received in 2018 for differentiated client experience. We completed themerger of our STMandBank legal entities in the third quarter of 2018. This merger simplified our organizational structure, enabled operational efficiencies, and allowedus tomore fully serve the needs of our clients irrespective of whether they began their SunTrust relationship with a mortgage or another lending or deposit product. Subsequent to the merger, mortgage operations have continued under the Bank’s charter. See Note 22, “Business Segment Reporting,” to the Consolidated Financial Statements in this Form 10-K for additional information. Wholesale Our advice-driven, middle-market strategywithin theWholesale segment continues to drive good results. We achieved record revenue and net income in 2018, buoyed by strong net interest income and continued expense discipline. The quality of our people, the advice they deliver, and the way we work together have enabled us to meet more client needs and provide superior execution in varying market conditions. Net interest income increased $99 million, or 5%, compared to 2017, as a result of net interest margin expansion and loan growth. Noninterest income decreased $39 million, or 2%, compared to 2017, due primarily to a decrease in loan syndications, which is a reflection of both market conditions and the impact of competition from non-bank lenders. Notwithstanding these declines, the underlying momentum in our capital markets business is strong, with mergers and acquisition and equity-related income up 14%and capital market fees from Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, and PWM clients up 49% year-to-date. We are highly encouraged by our progress and believe we are uniquely positioned to succeed in this space, given our full set of capabilities and OneTeam approach. In addition, we also had a particularly good year in structured real estate as a result of our strong client relationships and structuring expertise. The average balance of our LHFI portfolio increased $806 million, or 1%, compared to 2017, due primarily to improved lending trends compared to 2017. Our loan growth in C&I during the second half of 2018 was driven by mergers and acquisitions, increased revolver utilization, and investments made in expanding our industry penetration and geographical reach, evidenced by the announcement of our newHouston commercial office in November 2018. Our loan growth in Commercial Real Estate resulted from investments made in new lending capabilities. During 2017, we added permanent and bridge financing capabilities which helped to offset the runoff in the construction portfolio and afforded us the opportunity to participate in the full life cycle of an asset. We remain focused on investing in technology to arm our teammates with the tools they need to maximize effectiveness and to improve the experience for our clients, particularly in Treasury & Payment Solutions. During 2018, we transitioned to SunView, our new treasury and payments platform, and we are