Fitch Downgrades First Horizon

The issuer default rating of First Horizon National Corp., Memphis, has been downgraded from A to A-minus by Fitch Ratings, which cited factors that included continued earnings pressure in First Horizon's mortgage business.Fitch also downgraded the company's subordinated debt rating from A-minus to BBB-plus and affirmed its short-term IDR at F1. The outlook was revised from negative to stable. The rating agency said the downgrade of First Horizon's long-term IDR "reflects sustained underperformance versus the 'A' rated peer average and expectation for continued earnings pressure, particularly in mortgage business." The affirmation of the short-term IDR was attributed to the company's "comfortable liquidity and funding situation as well as sound liquidity policies/planning." Fitch said First Horizon has "zero subprime first-mortgage exposure in its loan or securities portfolio" as well as "limited subprime home equity exposure concentrated in its core Tennessee market only." Subprime mortgage originations have been discontinued. First Horizon can be found online at http://www.firsthorizon.com, and Fitch can be found at http://www.fitchratings.com.