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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15d OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
December 16, 1999
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WILMINGTON TRUST CORPORATION
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its chapter)
Commission File No. 1-14659
Delaware 51-0328154
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(State or other jurisdiction of (IRS Employer Commission File Number)
incorporation)
Wilmington Trust Corporation
Rodney Square North
1100 North Market Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19890
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code:
(302) 651-1000
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
<PAGE>
ITEM 5. Other Events
On December 16, 1999, Wilmington Trust Corporation (the "Corporation")
announced plans to outsource certain back office data processing functions it
believes can be performed more cost effectively by external providers for whom
data processing is a core business. Included in the outsourcing plans are check
processing and core accounting processes for personal and institutional trust
accounts.
Approximately 100 check processing employees are affected; the Corporation
anticipates that they will be transferred to the new provider in the first
quarter of 2000. The Corporation expects that most other employees affected by
the outsourcings will be redeployed to other initiatives within the Corporation.
The Corporation believes that these outsourcings will let it gain access to
world-class processing services, spread its operational risk, focus its
technology resources on strategic initiatives and assist its efforts to move its
cost structure to a more variable basis.
In part in connection with these outsourcings, the Corporation expects to
incur a one-time, non-cash, pre-tax writeoff of $13.4 million in the fourth
quarter of 1999, or $.25 per share on a fully diluted basis. The writeoff
includes:
o $ 11 million for trust processing hardware and software and
loan software reconfiguration;
o $ 1 million for check processing hardware and software; and
o $ 1.4 million for ATMs and real estate associated with the
reconfiguration of the Corporation's Delaware branch
operations.
The Corporation expects that, beginning in 2000, the outsourcings and
branch reconfiguration will produce savings in excess of $2.4 million per year
on a pre-tax basis, or $.05 per fully diluted share. The Corporation is
targeting earnings-per-share increases of 12% to 15% in 2000, and expects its
return on equity to be 20% or higher.
This Form 8-K contains certain forward-looking statements regarding the
Corporation's anticipated earnings and cost savings that are subject to numerous
assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially
from those contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among
other things, changes in national or regional economic conditions, changes in
market interest rates, significant delay in or inability to execute strategic
initiatives and increasing competition for deposits, loans and assets under
management.
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SIGNATURE
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Dated: December 16, 1999 WILMINGTON TRUST CORPORATION
By: /s/ David R. Gibson
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Name: David R. Gibson,
Title: Senior Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer
(Authorized Officer and Principal
Accounting Officer)
