BB&T reports 3rd quarter EPS totaling US$.30, up 30%; Net income increased 39%

BB&T grows loans in all non-real estate categories

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina, October 21, 2010 - BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) today reported earnings for the third
quarter of 2010. Net income available to common shareholders totaled US$210
million, or US$.30 per diluted common share, compared with US$152 million, or
US$.23 per diluted common share, earned during the third quarter of 2009.
These results reflect increases of 38.2% and 30.4%, respectively. Results
include US$10 million, or US$.01 per share, of merger-related charges.

"BB&T again produced industry-leading loan growth, including substantial
growth in all non-real estate portfolios compared to last quarter," said
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kelly S. King. "Loan growth in C&I
lending, automobile finance, revolving credit and our specialized lending
businesses has been exceptional. In fact, we generated double-digit growth in
specialized lending and automobile finance. I am also pleased that we
continued to grow pre-tax pre-provision earnings, which are up 61% on an
annualized linked quarter basis, excluding securities gains. Our underlying
businesses, in many ways, are performing better than ever, particularly in
terms of client service delivery and market position. Also, we continued to
grow low cost deposits, with 15.4% annualized growth in noninterest-bearing
deposits compared to last quarter.

"We gained momentum in the execution of our asset disposition strategy,
transferring US$1.3 billion in nonperforming loans to loans held for sale. We
have sold US$451 million in loans and foreclosed properties this quarter and
have more than US$350 million in nonperforming assets under contract to sell.

"Despite elevated credit costs, we continue to invest in our revenue
producing businesses through the development of our corporate banking team,
wealth team and specialized lending subsidiaries, among others," said King.
"These previous strategic investments are paying off because we have a strong
balance sheet and we are creating a better value proposition for our
clients."

    Quarterly Highlights Include:

    - Average total loans and leases held for investment, excluding the
      impact of the asset disposition strategy, increased US$907 million, or
      3.6% on an annualized basis for the third quarter compared to the
      second quarter of 2010
      - All non-real estate loan portfolios grew; the pace accelerated in
        almost all portfolios
      - Annualized linked quarter growth includes a 20.8% increase in average
        loans originated by BB&T's specialized lending group, a 10.4%
        increase in average sales finance loans, a 9.1% increase in average
        revolving credit loans and average C&I growth of 6.0%
      - C&I includes annualized growth of 20% in BB&T's large corporate
        banking initiative

    - Average client deposits were up US$3.6 billion, or 3.7%, in the third
      quarter compared to the third quarter of 2009, including stronger
      account openings in the legacy Colonial branches
      - BB&T increased net new transaction accounts from 17,400 in 3Q09 to
        37,700 in 3Q10
      - Deposit mix continued to improve with 15.4% annualized linked quarter
        growth in average noninterest-bearing deposit accounts

    - BB&T's capital levels remained strong at September 30
      - Tangible common equity unchanged at 7.0%
      - Leverage capital improved to 9.3%
      - Tier 1 common improved to 9.0%
      - Tier 1 risk-based capital remained strong at 11.7%

    - Net revenue growth, excluding securities gains, was 1.1% in the third
      quarter on an annualized basis compared to the second quarter of 2010
      - Pre-tax pre-provision earnings available to common shareholders
        increased 61% on an annualized basis in the quarter, excluding
        securities gains
      - Mortgage revenues increased significantly driving stronger overall
        revenues

    - Net interest income for the third quarter increased 6.2% compared to
      the third quarter of 2009
      - The net interest margin was 4.09% for the third quarter, a 41 basis
        point increase compared to the third quarter of 2009 and a decrease
        of 3 basis points compared to last quarter
      - The continued strong margin was driven primarily by higher yields on
        loans purchased from legacy Colonial and lower deposit costs

    - Executed a strategic de-risking of the investment portfolio which
      produced gains and provided additional balance sheet flexibility
      - BB&T sold US$10.7 billion of securities and recorded net gains of
        US$239 million in the quarter
      - Effective duration decreased to 2.9 years
      - Significantly reduced OCI risk in light of Basel III capital rules

    - Significant progress made in problem asset disposition strategy
      - Nonperforming assets decreased 4.2% and decreased 20.9% excluding
        loans held for sale
      - The allowance for loan and lease losses to nonperforming loans held
        for investment, excluding covered loans, improved to 130% at
        September 30 compared with 98% at June 30
      - Net charge-offs, excluding covered loans, totaled 3.54% for the
        quarter including US$432 million in charge-offs associated with the
        NPA disposition strategy. Excluding these losses and covered loans,
        net core charge-offs were 1.80% for the quarter

    - Acquired loan assessment indicates continued outperformance
      - The combined assessments for all quarters resulted in an improvement
        in interest income of US$18 million related to loans, offset by a
        reduction of US$12 million related to covered securities. The
        assessment also revealed additional impairment in certain loan pools,
        resulting in an increase to the provision for loan and lease losses
        of US$29 million compared to the prior quarter.

BB&T has no issues of concern in its foreclosure processes

After completing an internal review, BB&T identified no issues of concern
with its foreclosure processes. With knowledgeable specialists preparing all
affidavits, BB&T has not engaged in "robo-signing." In addition, the company
did not actively participate in private label securitizations that caused
problems with assignment of loans for other banks. The company works hard to
mitigate losses and work with borrowers, resorting to foreclosure only as a
last option. BB&T has been very successful modifying mortgage loans with a
73% success rate under the HAMP program converting troubled borrowers to
permanent modifications compared to an industry rate of approximately 20%.

"We operate a relatively low risk mortgage business model and we believe
our foreclosure process is sound," said King. "It truly is a values-based
approach where we work with our clients. Recently, we were recognized by J.D.
Power and Associates for 'Highest in Customer Satisfaction With Primary
Mortgage Servicers.'"*

Noninterest revenues increased 18.1%

Noninterest income increased US$170 million, or 18.1%, in the third
quarter compared to the same period last year primarily due to a US$208
million increase in securities gains and a US$40 million increase in mortgage
banking income. These increases were partially offset by a US$33 million
decrease in service charges on deposits and a US$46 million reduction in
noninterest income to reflect the offset related to the FDIC loss share
agreements.

BB&T earned US$184 million in mortgage banking revenue in the third
quarter, an increase of 27.8% compared to the third quarter last year. The
increase in mortgage banking income is primarily due to increased
refinance-related production revenues from favorable spreads on mortgage
loans. BB&T originated US$6.7 billion of mortgage loans during the third
quarter compared to US$5.0 billion in originations in the second quarter and
US$6.9 billion in the third quarter last year.

Checkcard fees and other nondeposit fees and commissions increased 18.6%
and 25.4%, respectively, compared to the third quarter of 2009. The increase
in checkcard fees was primarily due to increased usage by new and existing
clients. The growth in nondeposit fees and commissions was primarily the
result of stronger performance in commercial lending-related revenues.
Service charges on deposit accounts totaled US$147 million in the third
quarter, a decrease of 18.3% compared to the same quarter of 2009. The
decrease in service charges was primarily due to regulatory changes related
to overdraft policies. Trust and investment advisory revenue increased 11.1%
for this same period due to improved performance from Sterling Capital
Management, BB&T's asset management subsidiary.

Other noninterest income totaled US$(13 million) during the third
quarter, compared with US$20 million for the same period of 2009. The
decrease is due to market-related decreases in trading assets for
post-employment benefits that are offset by a similar decrease in personnel
expense and losses recorded on loans held for sale.

Noninterest expenses decrease on a linked quarter basis

BB&T's noninterest expenses decreased US$92 million, or 24.3% on an
annualized linked quarter basis. This decrease was due to substantially lower
foreclosed property costs and lower merger-related expenses. Noninterest
expenses increased US$88 million, or 6.7%, in the third quarter of 2010
compared with the same period in 2009. The increase included US$49 million of
additional expenses related to foreclosed properties; a US$16 million
increase in professional services costs; US$15 million in loan processing
expense; and US$17 million in higher regulatory charges. These increases were
partially offset by declines of US$8 million in merger-related and
restructuring charges and US$8 million in other expenses.

BB&T's performance drives positive operating leverage for the third
quarter

Growth in revenues and lower expenses drove positive operating leverage
for the third quarter of 2010 compared to the second quarter. Total revenues
increased by 4% on an annualized basis and expenses decreased by 24%, led by
lower writedowns on foreclosed properties.

Earnings webcast, presentation and Quarterly Performance Summary

To hear a live webcast of BB&T's third quarter 2010 earnings conference
call at 8 a.m. (ET) today, please visit our Web site at www.BBT.com. A
presentation will be used during the earnings conference call and will be
available on our Web site. Replays of the conference call will be available
on the BB&T Web site until Thursday, November 4, or by dialing 1-888-203-1112
(access code 4313363) until Tuesday, October 26.

To access the webcast and presentation, including an appendix reconciling
non-GAAP disclosures, go to www.BBT.com and click on "About BB&T" and
proceed to "Investor Relations." The webcast link can be found under
"Webcasts" and the presentation can be found under "View Recent
Presentations."

BB&T's Third Quarter 2010 Quarterly Performance Summary, which contains
detailed financial schedules, is available on BB&T's Web site at
www.BBT.com/financials.html.

About BB&T

As of Sept. 30, BB&T is one of the largest financial services holding
companies in the U.S. with US$157.2 billion in assets and market
capitalization of US$16.7 billion. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., the company
operates approximately 1,800 financial centers in 12 states and Washington,
D.C., and offers a full range of consumer and commercial banking, securities
brokerage, asset management, mortgage and insurance products and services. A
Fortune 500 company, BB&T is consistently recognized for outstanding client
satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates, the U.S. Small Business
Administration, Greenwich Associates and others. More information about BB&T
and its full line of products and services is available at
www.BBT.com.

Regulatory capital ratios are preliminary.

* Branch Banking and Trust received the highest numerical score among
mortgage servicers in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2010 Primary
Mortgage Servicer Study(SM). Study based on responses from 4,516 consumers
measuring 19 companies and measures the satisfaction of consumers with their
current mortgage servicer. Proprietary study results are based on experiences
and perceptions of consumers surveyed in May-June 2010. Your experiences may
vary. Visit jdpower.com

This news release contains performance measures determined by methods
other than in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the
United States of America ("GAAP"). BB&T's management uses these "non-GAAP"
measures in their analysis of the corporation's performance. BB&T's
management uses these measures to evaluate the underlying performance and
efficiency of its operations. It believes that these non-GAAP measures
provide a greater understanding of ongoing operations and enhance
comparability of results with prior periods as well as demonstrating the
effects of significant gains and charges in the current period. The company
believes that a meaningful analysis of its financial performance requires an
understanding of the factors underlying that performance. BB&T's management
believes that investors may use these non-GAAP financial measures to analyze
financial performance without the impact of unusual items that may obscure
trends in the company's underlying performance. These disclosures should not
be viewed as a substitute for financial measures determined in accordance
with GAAP, nor are they necessarily comparable to non-GAAP performance
measures that may be presented by other companies. Tangible common equity and
Tier 1 common equity ratios are non-GAAP measures. BB&T uses the Tier 1
common equity definition used in the SCAP assessment to calculate these
ratios. BB&T's management uses these measures to assess the quality of
capital and believes that investors may find them useful in their analysis of
the corporation. These capital measures are not necessarily comparable to
similar capital measures that may be presented by other companies. Asset
quality ratios have been adjusted to remove the impact of acquired loans and
foreclosed property covered by the FDIC loss sharing agreements as management
believes their inclusion results in distortion of those ratios and may not be
comparable to other periods presented or to other portfolios that were not
impacted by purchase accounting.

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements as defined
in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may
address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates and
assumptions made by management. Actual results may differ materially from
current projections. Please refer to BB&T's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission for a summary of important factors that may affect BB&T's
forward-looking statements. BB&T undertakes no obligation to revise these
statements following the date of this news release.

ANALYSTS - Tamera Gjesdal, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, +1-336-733-3058, or Alan Greer, Executive Vice President, Investor Relations, +1-336-733-3021, or MEDIA - Cynthia Williams, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, +1-336-733-1478