Regions Financial continues to hire bankers in so-called “priority markets” where it’s seeking more market share.

• Key insight: Regions Financial CEO John Turner said new and expanding entrants into Regions’ longtime home territory presents an opportunity for his bank to grow.
• What’s at stake: Regions will need to defend itself from large and regional banks that continue to expand into the Southeast.
• Forward look: The Alabama-based bank is forecasting expense growth of 1.5% to 3.5% for full-year 2026.

Regions Financial is in good shape to defend its position as a dominant bank in the Southeast, its CEO says, even as competitors continue to expand with urgency into that part of the country.

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The parent company of Regions Bank has a long history in some of its core markets, as well as “a really strong brand … very good market share and bankers that are well-known in their communities,” CEO John Turner said Friday during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

It’s also continuing to hire bankers in what it calls “priority markets,” including 50 who were hired last year, he added. In total, it expects to hire about 120 new bankers over a two-year period.

Other banks pushing into its territory presents “an opportunity to continue to grow,” Turner said.

“We’re going to take care of our customers, and I think we’ll have an opportunity to continue to grow our business, regardless of what the conditions are in the markets we operate,” he added.

Turner’s comments came on the heels of a warning shot from Bill Demchak, CEO of PNC Financial Services Group: The Pittsburgh-based bank, which has been investing in its Southeast footprint for years, is ready to go to battle with other banks for more market share.

“I don’t think anybody has an ability to defend home turf here,” Demchak said earlier Friday during PNC’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “We’re coming into your market. If you’re not coming into our market to come fight us, we’re coming into your market to come fight you, and we’re going to get some percentage of your market, as is [JPMorganChase and Bank of America.]”

One analyst wanted to know how Alabama-based Regions is going to keep spending in check as it protects its position in the Southeast and continues to hire bankers in its priority markets, which includes Nashville and Atlanta. Currently Regions is the largest deposit holder in its home state, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It’s the third-largest deposit holder in Tennessee, the fourth-largest in Louisiana and Mississippi and the seventh-largest in Florida.

For 2026, the bank predicts that noninterest expenses will rise 1.5% to 3.5% year over year.

Anil Chadha, Regions’ controller and its incoming chief financial officer, said the bank is focused on making the necessary investments for growth while figuring out “ways to fund that growth.”

“It’s incumbent upon us every day to make sure we’re making the right investments to grow revenue [and] making the right investments in technology, but also find ways to fund those investments,” said Chadha, who will succeed longtime CFO David Turner on March 31.

One area at Regions that appears to be less of a priority for spending is bank acquisitions.

The bank’s appetite for M&A has been a topic of curiosity for industry observers. In November, American Banker reported that Regions tried to buy Dallas-based Comerica earlier this year, but that Comerica rejected the offer and instead made a speedy deal with Fifth Third Bancorp.

On Friday, CEO Turner doubled-down on some of the M&A-related comments he made last month at an industry conference, saying that “depository M&A is not part of our strategy today.”

Notably, the $158.1 billion-asset bank is in the midst of a core systems modernization project, which it expects to complete in the latter half of 2027.

John Turner acknowledged that while the project “technically … does not restrict [the bank’s] ability to do an M&A transaction, practically it would be very challenging.”

Regions’ fourth-quarter earnings came in a touch worse than analysts had been forecasting. Net income of $534 million was flat with the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share totaled 58 cents, 4 cents shy of the average estimate of analysts who were polled by S&P Capital IQ.

The results included a few one-time items, including $26 million of after-tax additional income tax expenses that were primarily tied to an increase of state income tax reserves as well as $7 million in pretax costs related to salaries and employee benefits severance, the bank said.

Revenues totaled $1.9 billion for the period ending Dec. 31, up 5.8% year over year. Net interest income was $1.3 billion, up 4.1% from the year-ago quarter. Total loans declined 0.8% year over year, in part because of a decrease in Regions’ home improvement financing book as well as decreases in owner-occupied commercial real estate and commercial-and-industrial loans.

Fee income of $640 million rose 9.4% year over year, led by increases in wealth management income, bank-owned life insurance fees and commercial credit fee income, the bank said.

Noninterest expenses for the quarter rose 5.8% from the prior-year period. Historically, the bank’s technology spend has made up 9% to 11% of total revenues, but on Friday executives said that spending category would now be about 10% to 12% of total revenues going forward.