Apr. 29--Shareholder confidence in BB&T Corp. helped the bank navigate through what could have been an uneasy annual meeting yesterday.

The meeting, the first for Kelly King as chief executive, drew about 150 shareholders to the Embassy Suites in downtown Winston-Salem.

King faced only one pointed question about BB&T's performance during the low-key meeting.

That is despite BB&T posting a 26 percent decline in net income in the first quarter. King is also dealing with increased worries about deterioration in BB&T's Carolinas real-estate-loan portfolio and the possibility of a dividend cut, which is being projected by a growing chorus of analysts.

By comparison, Kenneth Lewis, King's counterpart at Bank of America Corp., is expected to deal with significant shareholder unrest at its meeting today regarding the sharp drop in share price and its precarious financial status after the federal government prodded the bank to buy Merrill Lynch & Co.

"I knew there was a chance of some unrest given what's going in the banking industry," King said. "But we feel we are distinguishable from other banks because we are conservative in the way we are run. We have missed a lot of so-called good deals because we didn't vary from our lending standards. That approach has served us well."

King said that BB&T's approach also "has allowed us to outperform the S&P 500 and national peers, and that's practically all any company can do."

Still, King knows he likely will be judged in the early stage of his CEO term by how the bank deals with its cherished dividend.

BB&T has paid a cash dividend to shareholders every year since 1903, as well as increased the quarterly payments for 37 consecutive years. It is the largest U.S. bank that hasn't cut its dividend.

However, several analysts have projected for months that BB&T would have to reduce the dividend -- which was 47 cents in the second quarter -- to preserve capital amid an increasing loan-loss provision.

King said that if cutting the dividend proved necessary for the health of the bank, it would represent "the worse day in my 37-year banking career."

He said that any decision would be based on three main criteria: the status of its real-estate loan portfolio in coming months; the capital needed to take advantage of lower-cost deals in a post-financial-crisis environment; and how quickly it can pay back $3.1 billion in federal bailout money.

"We have to have the long-term health of the company in mind," King said.

Analysts at KBW Inc. said last week that BB&T is likely waiting for the federal stress test to be completed before taking action on its dividend.

Banks subject to the stress test -- those with at least $100 billion in total assets -- cannot reveal, by federal law, the results without government approval. That permission is expected next week.

"We feel really good about our input and that we're adequately capitalized," he said.

Federal Reserve officials told reporters Friday that all 19 banks will need to keep an extra buffer of capital reserves beyond what's now required, in case losses continue to mount. That would mean that some banks will likely have to raise additional cash.

But the Fed stressed in a statement that a bank's need for more capital reserves should not be considered a measure of the "current solvency or viability of the firm."

William Stone Jr., the investor who spoke to BB&T's real-estate loan portfolio, said he believes that the bank will be a survivor.

"I'm glad they didn't get into the loan trouble that other institutions did," Stone said. "But I am still concerned about the economy and the rough road ahead, including for BB&T.

"If something has to give -- and I'm not sure something does -- I would rather see the dividend cut than keep it up for the sake of some kind of record, and it hurt the health of the bank," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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