Reuters ahead as Synovus sees return to profitability, shares jump

Reuters beat Bloomberg by about an hour on March 11 in reporting that loss making Southeast regional bank Synovus Financial expects to return to profitability in 2010 on improving credit trends. Shares of the company shot up 10 percent at the market open, following the headlines. Reuters broke the news from the slides available on the company’s website that were to be used by Synovus in its presentation at the Citigroup Financial Services Conference later in the day. The Columbus, Georgia-based bank has been badly battered as a depleting residential construction portfolio and deteriorating credit markets continue to hurt its profitability. Dow Jones did not have the news at all.