EX-99.1 Press Release Dated July 15, 2002
	Financial Highlights
	Consolidated Income Statements
	Consolidated Balance Sheets
EX-99.1 Press Release Dated July 15, 2002

	EX-99.1 Press Release Dated July 15, 2002
	Financial Highlights
	Consolidated Income Statements
	Consolidated Balance Sheets
EX-99.1 Press Release Dated July 15, 2002

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Media Contact:	James E. Mahoney
		617-434-9552
	Investor Contact:	John A. Kahwaty
		617-434-3650

FLEETBOSTON’S SECOND QUARTER RESULTS REFLECT STRATEGIC
ACTIONS ANNOUNCED IN APRIL

     BOSTON, MA, July 15, 2002 – FleetBoston Financial today reported a second quarter loss of $386 million, or $.37 per share, including special charges of $1.0 billion (after-tax). Excluding the charges, Fleet reported net income for the quarter of $635 million, or $.60 per share.

     “This was a difficult quarter financially as we transition the company to the strategy we announced in April. The continuing businesses identified in April had solid quarters,” said Chad Gifford, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fleet. “The steps we have taken this quarter to reduce risk and volatility have been aggressive. In a short period of time we have exited two businesses and substantially downsized others. The charges we have taken this quarter are painful but a necessary step in implementing our strategic transition,” Gifford added.

     Most of Fleet’s continuing businesses reported solid quarters. Personal Financial Services earned $265 million, compared to $251 million in the first quarter of 2002. Products per household have increased to 3.6 from 2.8 and core deposits were up nearly 10% in the past year. Customer favorability scores have improved by 30% since the end of 2000 and employee turnover has moderated significantly. Wholesale Banking, despite actions to downsize its loan portfolio, had a strong quarter in our northeast commercial banking franchise allowing us to aggressively charge off a number of telecommunication and other well publicized credits. Commercial loan outstandings are down by 15% in the past year as part of Fleet’s strategy to reduce risk. Cross-sell revenue in the wholesale bank grew an annualized 15% from the first quarter.

     “Our reserves and capital remain strong, enabling us to take aggressive steps to implement our strategy of reducing risk and volatility, while building our core businesses,” said Eugene M. McQuade, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Fleet. “The charges we took reflect our strong desire to tackle the problems we face so we can quickly move forward in implementing our new strategy,” McQuade added.

     Included in the special charges are the following items:

• A charge of $675 million ($449 million after-tax) to recognize continued deterioration in the Argentine economy. In addition to the Argentine special charge, the Corporation incurred $251 million ($143 million after-tax) of translation losses, which are recorded directly to stockholders’ equity, due to further weakening of the peso. This brings the total Argentine charges set aside for the quarter to $925 million. As a result of these actions, the Corporation has now taken cumulative charges of approximately $2.3 billion since the beginning of the Argentine crisis. During the second quarter, on a discretionary basis the Corporation placed all sovereign-related assets and a significant portion of private sector loans on nonaccrual status, bringing total nonperforming assets in Argentina to $2.0 billion.

• The provision for credit losses in the quarter, excluding Argentina, was $950 million. The chargeoff increase of $584 million ($387 million after-tax) over the first quarter primarily reflects the Corporation’s desire to acknowledge the current poor environment for telecommunications and large corporate credits.

• A charge of $388 million ($278 million after-tax) related to the Corporation’s exit from Robertson Stephens, Asia and its student loan processing business, AFSA. Fleet previously announced its intention to wind down Robertson Stephens, its investment banking subsidiary, by the end of the month and the sale of AFSA in June.

• Offsetting these charges were securities gains of approximately $140 million ($93 million after-tax) which included $62 million of losses to reposition our assets in Brazil.

     McQuade also commented on the Corporation’s financial strength. “After these actions, Fleet’s Tier 1 and Total Capital ratios were approximately 8.1% and 11.8%, respectively, and our reserve for loan losses stood at 3.3% of total loans. The Corporation expects the remainder of the year to be solidly profitable.”

     Excluding the above charges, net income for the second quarter was $635 million or $.60 per share which was negatively impacted by the poor operating environment in Argentina and by Principal Investing where the Corporation took approximately $70 million in additional

writedowns. Net income for the second quarter of last year was $724 million or $.67 per share, excluding net charges in that period.

     Nonperforming assets, excluding Argentina, were $1.9 billion at June 30, 2002, flat with March 31, 2002. Total assets at June 30, 2002 were $191 billion, compared with $202 billion at June 30, 2001. The decrease from a year ago is primarily due to our previously announced strategy to lower domestic commercial loans and a decline in Argentine assets as a result of currency devaluations. Stockholders’ equity amounted to $17 billion at June 30, 2002, with a common equity to assets ratio of 8.7%.

     A detailed financial package containing supplemental information on the second quarter financial results can be found by accessing the Corporation’s web site www.fleet.com. Eugene M. McQuade, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, will hold a conference call, which will be broadcast live on the Corporation’s web site, at 8:15 AM today to discuss second quarter results. The call in number is 888-790-3562 (international: 712-271-1110) and the passcode is Fleet. A taped playback will be available from July 15 until July 17 at 6:00 PM and can be accessed by calling 800-386-9834 (international: 402-220-9820).

     FleetBoston Financial is the seventh-largest financial holding company in the United States. A diversified financial services company with assets of $191 billion, Fleet offers a comprehensive array of innovative financial solutions to 20 million customers in more than 20 countries and territories. Among the company’s key lines of business are: consumer banking, with approximately 1,500 branches and 3,700 ATMs in the Northeast; wholesale banking, including regional and national commercial banking and related services; investment services, including nationwide brokerage; and full-service banking through more than 250 offices in Latin America. FleetBoston Financial is headquartered in Boston and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: FBF) and the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE: FBF).

*************

This release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, (1) changes in general political and economic conditions, either domestically or internationally; (2) continued economic, political and social instability in Argentina, including the potential impact of those conditions on the economies of other countries in which the Corporation is doing business, in particular Brazil; (3) the economic effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States and related events, including the potential expansion of hostilities; (4) further deterioration in credit quality, including

the resultant effect on the level of the Corporation’s provision for credit losses, nonperforming assets, net chargeoffs and reserve for credit losses; (5) interest rate and currency fluctuations, equity and bond market fluctuations and inflation; (6) continued weakness in the global capital markets and the impact of such weakness on the Corporation’s Principal Investing and other capital markets businesses; (7) changes in competitive product and pricing pressures among financial institutions within the Corporation’s markets; (8) legislative or regulatory developments, including changes in laws concerning taxes, banking, securities, capital requirements and risk-based capital guidelines, reserve methodologies, insurance and other aspects of the financial services industry; (9) changes in accounting rules, policies, practices and procedures; and (10) technological changes, including the impact of the Internet on the Corporation’s businesses.

###

FleetBoston Financial
Financial Highlights

Three Months Ended								Six Months Ended
June 30,			June 30,					June 30,			June 30,
2002			2001					2002			2001
						For the Period ($ in millions)
$	(386	)	$	531		Net Income (Loss)		$	349		$	672
	(106	)		521			Continuing Operations (1)		630			674
	(280	)		10			Discontinued Operations (2)		(281	)		(2	)
	2,660			3,038		Revenue			5,804			6,239
	1,597			1,873		Total Expense			3,163			4,452
	1,250			313		Provision for Credit Losses			1,658			627
						Per Common Share
$	(.37	)	$	.48		Earnings (loss) per share — Net Income		$	.32		$	.60
	(.11	)		.47			Continuing Operations (1)		.59			.60
	(.26	)		.01			Discontinued Operations (2)		(.27	)		—
	.35			.33		Cash dividends declared			.70			.66
	15.79			17.47		Book value (period-end)			15.79			17.47
						At Period-End ($ in billions)
$	191.0		$	202.1		Assets		$	191.0		$	202.1
	116.2			127.8		Loans			116.2			127.8
	121.1			123.3		Deposits			121.1			123.3
	16.8			19.3		Total stockholders’ equity			16.8			19.3
						Ratios
nm		%		1.02	%	Return on average assets — Continuing Operations			.67	%		.66	%
nm				10.84		Return on common equity — Continuing Operations			7.14			6.96
	4.12			4.29		Net interest margin			4.15			4.27
	8.8			9.5		Total equity/assets (period-end)			8.8			9.5
	6.4			7.4		Tangible common equity/assets			6.4			7.4
	8.1			8.5		Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio			8.1			8.5
	11.8			12.3		Total risk-based capital ratio			11.8			12.3
						Asset Quality ($ in millions)
$	3,891		$	1,394		Nonperforming assets		$	3,891		$	1,394
	1,866			1,191			Non-Argentine		1,866			1,191
	2,025			203			Argentine		2,025			203
	3,867			2,746		Reserve for credit losses			3,867			2,746
	3.33	%		1.09	%	Nonperforming assets as a % of related assets			3.33	%		1.09	%
	1.65			.98			Non-Argentina		1.65			.98
	57.73			3.02			Argentina		57.73			3.02
	3.33			2.15		Reserve for credit losses to period-end loans			3.33			2.15
	113			202		Reserve for credit losses to nonperforming loans			113			202
	3.29			.99		Net charge-offs/average loans			2.25			.91

(1)	Continuing operations include $635 million of operating earnings from continuing businesses offset by $741 million of special charges that relate to those businesses.
(2)	Discontinued operations includes the operating losses as well as special charges of $278 million for the businesses being exited (Robertson Stephens, AFSA, Asia).

FleetBoston Financial
Consolidated Income Statements
($ in millions)

Three Months Ended										Six Months Ended
June 30,			June 30,							June 30,			June 30,
2002			2001							2002			2001
$	1,656		$	1,889			Net interest income (FTE)			$	3,388		$	3,792
							Noninterest income:
	405			330				Investment services revenue			810			673
	383			399				Banking fees and commissions			766			782
	(126	)		(172	)			Capital markets revenue			150			(187	)
	155			162				Credit card revenue			327			327
	187			430				Other			363			852
	1,004			1,149					Noninterest income		2,416			2,447
	2,660			3,038			Total revenue				5,804			6,239
							Noninterest expense:
	836			897				Employee compensation and benefits			1,645			1,821
	126			135				Occupancy			257			274
	121			125				Equipment			244			252
	22			94				Intangible asset amortization			44			190
	9			194				Merger and restructuring costs and loss on sale of business			14			1,003
	483			428				Other			959			912
	1,597			1,873					Total expense		3,163			4,452
	1,063			1,165		Income from continuing operations before provision and income taxes					2,641			1,787
	1,250			313		Provision for credit losses					1,658			627
	(81	)		331		Income taxes and tax-equivalent adjustment from continuing operations					353			486
$	(106	)	$	521		Net Income (loss) from continuing operations				$	630		$	674
	(280	)		10		Income (loss) from discontinued operations, (net of tax)					(281	)		(2	)
$	(386	)	$	531		Net income (loss)				$	349		$	672
$	(.11	)	$	.47		Diluted earnings (loss) per share — continuing operations				$	.59		$	.60
	(.37	)		.48		Diluted earnings (loss) per share					.32			.60

FleetBoston Financial
Consolidated Balance Sheets
($ in millions)

	June 30,			June 30,
	2002			2001
ASSETS:
Cash and equivalents	$	14,173		$	19,051
Securities		29,828			24,554
Trading assets		3,857			2,997
Loans and leases		116,201			127,845
Reserve for credit losses		(3,867	)		(2,746	)
Due from brokers/dealers		4,163			4,699
Other assets		26,685			25,734
Total assets	$	191,040		$	202,134
LIABILITIES:
Domestic core deposits	$	89,409		$	77,742
Domestic time deposits		20,152			25,626
International		11,553			19,975
Total deposits		121,114			123,343
Short-term borrowings		11,724			14,523
Due to brokers/dealers		4,067			4,475
Long-term debt		22,654			27,816
Other liabilities		14,665			12,701
Total liabilities		174,224			182,858
STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY:
Preferred stock		271			328
Common stock		16,545			18,948
Total stockholders’ equity		16,816			19,276
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	191,040		$	202,134