Company: HBAN
Filing Date: 2025-02-14
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000049196-25-000020
Chunk: 142

Company: HUNTINGTON BANCSHARES INC /MD/
Filing Date: 2025-02-14
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 142
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 principal balances of the underlying loans, which can be reduced by prepayments. Prepayments usually increase when mortgage interest rates decline and decrease when mortgage interest rates rise.

In addition to volatility associated with interest rates, the Company also has exposure to equity markets related to the investments within the benefit plans and other income from client-based transactions. 

2024 Form 10-K     29

Table of Contents

Inflation could negatively impact our business, our profitability, and our stock price.

Prolonged periods of inflation may impact our profitability by negatively impacting our fixed costs and expenses, including increasing funding costs and expense related to talent acquisition and retention. Additionally, inflation may lead to a decrease in consumer and clients’ purchasing power and negatively affect the need or demand for our products and services. If significant inflation continues, our business could be negatively affected by, among other things, increased default rates leading to credit losses which could decrease our appetite for new credit extensions. These inflationary pressures could result in missed earnings and budgetary projections causing our stock price to suffer.

Industry competition may have an adverse effect on our success.

Our profitability depends on our ability to compete successfully. We operate in a highly competitive environment, and we expect competition to intensify. Certain of our competitors are larger and have more resources than we do, enabling them to be more aggressive than us in competing for loans and deposits. Our competitors could be made larger through merger or consolidation. In our market areas, we face competition from other banks and financial service companies that offer similar services. Some of our non-bank competitors are not subject to the same extensive regulations we are and, therefore, may have greater flexibility in competing for business. Technological advances have made it possible for our non-bank competitors to offer products and services that traditionally were banking products and for financial institutions and other companies to provide electronic and internet-based financial solutions, including mobile payments, online deposit accounts, electronic payment processing, and marketplace lending, without having a physical presence where their customers are located. Legislative or regulatory changes also could lead to increased competition in the financial services sector. Our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, including customer convenience, quality of service by investing in new products and services, electronic platforms, personal contacts, pricing, and range of products. If we are unable to successfully compete for new customers and retain our current customers, our business, financial condition, or results of operations may be adversely affected. In particular, if we experience an outflow of deposits as a result of our customers seeking investments with higher