Our achievements in 1999 have generated the energy and momentum that will carry our company forward for years to come. We are executing five simple strategies: Internet Frontiers, Core Banking, Financial Services Beyond Banking, Global Solutions Provider for Commerce and Personally Developing EveryONE. Following are the reasons I believe these strategies will win in the marketplace.

We have embarked on an Internet strategy that distinguishes us from any other financial services company. We consider the Internet's ramifications with every strategic decision we make, as if every customer, client, account and transaction in the business were at stake - because they are.

OnLine Access, which was barely a concept less than 12 months ago, is now available for Synovus customers in two communities and soon will be offered in even more. In only a few months, OnLine Access at those pilot banks has reached market penetration levels that have taken competing banks months longer to achieve. In the second quarter of 2000 look for the introduction of pointpathbank.com and the specialized "marriage" niche it will target. This Internet strategy is designed to give Synovus an online retention tool and an online expansion tool, all without sacrificing shareholder value.

We are building upon our historic strength in core banking services, which provided by far the predominant share of our revenues in 1999. Net charge-offs dropped $1.2 million in 1999, setting a respectable industry benchmark of 0.29 percent. The nonperforming assets ratio improved to 0.38 percent, a similarly impressive accomplishment. Only 0.81 percent of the entire loan portfolio is more than 30 days past due. Considered together, these three key performance indicators show the family of Synovus banks is poised to have an equally successful - perhaps even stronger - year in 2000.

We've kept our promise to hold the line on expenses within the banks and the family of companies. Our team members have increased productivity and efficiency. With "Think Twice," a vigorous campaign mounted in 1999, we reminded every team member to Think Customer and Think Stewardship in every decision.

The banks of Merit Holding Corporation joined the Synovus family in the third quarter of 1999, adding more than $306 million in assets to our holdings. Merit added the 37th and 38th banks to our network, Mountain National Bank in Tucker, Ga., and Charter Bank & Trust Co. in Marietta, Ga. Vanguard Bank & Trust, the Synovus bank in Valparaiso, Fla., added banking centers in Fort Walton Beach and Crestview with the merger of Ready Bank of West Florida in the fourth quarter. Horizon Bank of Florida merged with the Bank of Pensacola in the fourth quarter, further strengthening our presence in Florida's Panhandle region.

Fundamental technology expenses have fallen since the second quarter of 1999, and our banks' general and administrative expenses also have remained fundamentally flat in the second half of 1999 since a peak in the second quarter.

Our assets grew more than twice the industry average in 1999. We reported robust loan growth for the year, a 19.3 percent increase over 1998, led primarily by our banks in larger urban markets. Synovus ranked among the country's five top-performing financial services companies in the fourth quarter, according to criteria established by Salomon Smith Barney. We're still getting better.

We've not yet reached optimum performance levels on TIPS, our new bank data processing system, but our efficiency improves daily. As our experience with the system matures, it will allow team members to increase income growth, gather more assets and build higher profitability day by day. The TIPS system is a key component to sustaining a thriving, healthy sales culture in each of our more than 200 branches.

We continue to implement Financial Services Beyond Banking to bring our customers "One Relationship. Every Service." We are one of the first financial services providers in the country to create a business model that gets it right ... providing our customers a simple solution to integrate their entire financial lives. Together, these asset management services will become a third pillar of strength for our company - in addition to commercial banking and transaction processing - that places Synovus in an elite category of financial services companies with multiple core competencies.

Already, our progress is evident. Wealth management revenues increased a combined 32 percent in 1999; this includes a 50 percent increase in retail brokerage revenues, a 303 percent increase in revenues from annuity sales and a 31 percent increase in trust revenues. Our insurance pilots are successfully underway. Regulatory reforms enacted in 1999 will allow us to streamline and execute our Financial Services Beyond Banking tactics even more swiftly.

TSYS is becoming the global solutions provider for all commerce, providing the crucial, efficient and reliable electronic link between buyers and sellers anywhere, any time products or services change hands. TSYS is developing its own knowledge management initiatives for growth, which emphasize the company's unique capability to capture, store, manage and interpret massive volumes of commerce-related data - then return that information to clients in a way that leads to wiser management decisions.

In the third quarter, Synovus acquired Wallace & de Mayo, one of the nation's most successful and technologically advanced collections firms based in Norcross, Ga. The company has been renamed TSYS Total Debt Management, Inc.,^SM and will operate under the umbrella of TSYS. With this acquisition, TSYS can now manage every facet of an issuer's card product, from the first phone call to the final collection and every statement and interaction in between.

Now TSYS is expanding its core operations through the Internet and into new market sectors. TSYS was among the first companies to move financial data electronically. TSYS has been an e-commerce company for almost a quarter-century. As credit card purchasing abounds on the Internet, the innovative framework of TS2 will continue to be by far the most superior offering on the market, executing those transactions more efficiently than any competitor.

This company is poised for phenomenal growth as it reaps the rewards of its current investments alone. The number of accounts on file at year-end increased 76 percent to more than 206 million. Considering new markets and new directions, the potential is almost indescribable. With its year-end performance results, TSYS beat projections with a 34.8 percent increase in revenues and a 25.1 percent increase in net income for 1999. TSYS predicts net income will increase by at least 20 percent in 2000.

Successful companies have a strong culture based on strong values. PDE is the collective group of formal initiatives that's designed to protect this company's "culture of the heart" for generations of team members and customers. We run our company this way simply because it's right; because every person who labors here has great worth and deserves to be treated so. Our company is built on these values. They define who we are.

We've harvested the fruits of our first full year of The Leadership Institute, Foundations of Leadership and Right Steps for Performance Development, the three anchors of PDE. Even now, the PDE team is developing talent management initiatives that will nurture and challenge our highly talented team members to become the next generation of leaders and high performers.

I believe a fundamental respect for the individual generates loyalty, enthusiasm and commitment in team members. All their energy should not be wasted pleasing managers when it could be spent exceeding the customers' expectations. My goal is to remove every obstacle in the company that interferes with providing world-class service for customers so they will become "raving" fans - in the words of Ken Blanchard - of every financial service we offer. PDE empowers every person to do extraordinary work.

Synovus has proven that companies need not sacrifice high financial performance in favor of treating folks right at work. One of "The 100 Best Companies To Work For" (according to FORTUNE magazine, for the third straight year) remains one of the best-performing companies in America in 2000, achieving results that rival the finest financial service providers.

I'm pleased to report the remarkably smooth Y2K transition we experienced, an achievement I hope no one takes for granted. I believe that Y2K would not have been trouble-free without the four years of tireless dedication of hundreds of team members who conquered the problem for our family of companies. Those resources can now be redirected to more productive activities.

To connect every team member with our five fundamental strategies, we launched the "Takin' It To The Streets" campaign, in which our senior leaders have already traveled to more than half of our banks to talk forthrightly about the business. We started the campaign in July 1999 with The Meeting of the Century in Columbus, where almost 5,000 team members gathered for the first time in one place. Our leaders have not panicked with every fluctuation of the market. We all are confident in the results we've achieved, and even more enthusiastic about the long-term course we've charted for our company. What remains before us - perhaps the most difficult task - is crisp, effective execution. Thus far, we've had a quiet, steady, momentum-building approach to meeting all these challenges and investing for the long haul.

In its history as a publicly traded company, Synovus has outperformed most of the companies that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. TSYS has performed even higher. But, as with most other financial stocks, we've given back some of that appreciation in the past 18 months. We are working vigorously to earn it back in the marketplace for you, our shareholders.

Like you, I've been disappointed with the value of our share price and the market's inattention to our strong performance over the past year. Our company reported record double-digit increases in revenues and net income each quarter in 1999. With those results, I believe the investment community will soon return its favor to our sector, and our company specifically. Regardless of the market's future behavior, our leaders will continue to do what's right and to make the prudent, tough decisions that will best serve all our constituents.

In the past three years we have completely rebuilt this entire organization, from foundation to flagpole. We're moving toward excellence in every respect. Our momentum is tangible, measurable. I hope you have experienced it for yourself by now. All the pieces are in place. We expect the highest levels of success from this point forward, and I hope you will join us.

In closing, I would like to offer my congratulations to vice chairman Stephen L. Burts Jr., who retired in August 1999. As I said at his retirement, Steve's efforts and stewardship during his 26 years of distinctive service have inspired us all to greater accomplishment. We are deeply grateful for his contributions to our company and our community.