Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Releases 2021 ESG Report

Updates Stakeholders on Commitments to Economic Inclusion, Community Development, Human Capital, and Sustainability

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN) has issued its 2021 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report, which highlights how Huntington helps people reach their goals, provides businesses with the resources to grow, and works to create prosperous and resilient communities.

The 2021 ESG Report provides a comprehensive review of Huntington's progress on performance dimensions that drive sustainable, long-term value for all its stakeholders as well as the impact of its focus on community economic development, equity, and environmental sustainability.

"Our ESG efforts are aligned with our purpose of looking out for our colleagues, our customers and the communities we serve," said Steve Steinour, chairman, president, and CEO. "Our values are the catalyst for our service and performance culture at Huntington. We are committed to delivering an exceptional customer experience, remaining deeply connected to our communities, and providing our colleagues with a fulfilling professional career. We remain focused on our ESG efforts and are inspired by the role we can play in the lives of all we serve."

In 2016, Huntington launched its strategic commitment to ESG best practices to provide increased transparency and accountability around our long-held pledge to promote corporate social responsibly, prudent risk management, and strong financial results.

Huntington's commitment to continually improving the enterprise integration of ESG strategic frameworks is reflected in this year's report that details enhanced board and executive governance structures alongside new product and program investments, maturing metrics, and a growing effort toward impact-based reporting. 

"Our governance actions outlined in this report guide us on our path to being a top-tier performing bank, creating long-term value for all of our stakeholders," said Dave Porteous, Lead Director, Huntington Board of Directors. "Our board appreciates the importance of aligning our business objectives and the success of our consumer, business and community partners in the context of shared, sustainable prosperity."  

This is Huntington's sixth ESG report and includes its second-year reporting to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards for Commercial Banks and Consumer Finance, and third annual reporting to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework.

Notable progress in ESG related focus areas includes:

Driving Investments and Economic Growth in Communities: Huntington's commitments to providing financial education, serving the underbanked, and expanding economic inclusion programs provide a platform to help reduce poverty and drive economic opportunity for all.

• Introduced an industry leading five-year $40 billion Community Plan, to address economic, social, environmental, and racial equity challenges
• Dedicated $16B of the loans and investments to establish programs and services that foster equity in areas such as affordable housing, small business financing, and community services
• Extended approximately $7.6 billion of the loans to low-income and underserved borrowers
• Expanded Huntington Lift Local Business, a small business program that provides greater access to credit, business planning services, and educational resources, with a focus on minority-, woman-, and veteran-owned businesses
• Advanced access to banking services providing for customers and communities with 26.2% of our branches located in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods
• Assisted nearly 3,000 families in mortgage distress through the Home Savers Program
• Volunteered 28,500 colleague service hours across more than 1,100 non-profit organizations
• Grew access to capital for small businesses as the No. 1 originator of SBA 7(a) loans (by number) in our region for the thirteenth consecutive year
• Expanded our Fair Play banking philosophy with new products that look out for our customers financial wellbeing

Cultivating a Diverse Workforce and Governance Structure: Huntington is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in its workforce, as well as doing business with a diverse supplier base.

• Achieved 47% diversity on Huntington board of directors
• Attained 68% total workforce diversity, and 45% diversity in middle and executive management
• Implemented a bank-wide minimum wage increase to $19 per hour effective January 1, 2022
• Attained average base pay for women colleagues with the same job titles as men at 99% of that paid to men, and the average base pay for racially diverse colleagues with the same job titles as non-racially diverse colleagues at 99% of that paid to non-minorities
• Increased our total spend with diverse suppliers to 21.3%, exceeding our goal of 18%, supporting over 3,675 jobs and $472 million in U.S. GDP contribution

Serving as a Steward of the Environment: Huntington is committed to the transition to a low-carbon economy. We are taking meaningful actions in our own business and encourage our suppliers, customers, partners, and communities to do the same.

• Achieved CDP's A- climate change rating as part of our ongoing sustainability commitment
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 35% since 2017 benchmark
• Shifting 50% of electricity usage to renewable sources by 2035
• Completed 80 new ENERGY STAR certifications for our buildings
• Developed an exploratory roadmap for achieving a net-zero carbon future
• Invested in dedicated leadership roles including our Climate Risk Director and Environmental Strategy & Sustainability Director, to guide climate risk and climate change transition support for all stakeholders
• Joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) to align with industry risk management standards

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $179 billion asset regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1866, The Huntington National Bank and its affiliates provide consumers, small and middle?market businesses, corporations, municipalities, and other organizations with a comprehensive suite of banking, payments, wealth management, and risk management products and services. Huntington operates more than 1,000 branches in 11 states, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies. Visit Huntington.com for more information.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, certain plans, expectations, goals, projections, and statements, which are not historical facts and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Statements that do not describe historical or current facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as expect, anticipate, believe, intend, estimate, plan, target, goal, or similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as will, may, might, should, would, could, or similar variations. The forward-looking statements are intended to be subject to the safe harbor provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and are based on information available at that time. We do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements were made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events except as required by federal securities laws. As forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, caution should be exercised against placing undue reliance on such statements. Please carefully review and consider the various disclosures made in this document and in our other reports filed with the SEC for more information about the risks and other factors that may affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, or prospects.

SOURCE Huntington Bancshares Inc.