Area bank returns to profitability

ROLF BOONE

Lacey-based Anchor Bancorp, parent company to Anchor Bank of Aberdeen, announced a quarterly profit this month, earning $278,000 in its fiscal first quarter.

The company put together a profitable quarter because its credit-quality issues showed improvement, President and Chief Executive Jerry Shaw said.

“Hopefully, the trend will continue,” he said.

For its fiscal first quarter, Anchor Bancorp swung to net income of $278,000, or 11 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $1.7 million, or 70 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Examples of improving credit-quality issues include nonperforming assets, which have fallen $8.5 million from a year ago and $1.4 million since June 30.

The provision for loan losses – when money is set aside to cover potentially bad loans – also was down, falling to $300,000 in the quarter compared with $525,000 in the same quarter last year. The troubled assets include bank-owned property and other nonperforming real estate loans, Shaw said.

He said the company is trying to solve its credit-quality issues over the long term, rather than taking a short-term approach involving charge-offs that would affect earnings.

“We’re trying to do this in a sensible, consistent and ongoing fashion,” he said.

Anchor Bancorp’s stock, which trades under the ticker symbol ANCB, remains near its 52-week high.

On Wednesday, the stock closed up 46 cents at $12.96 a share. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has ranged from $5.50 a share to $13.95 a share.

Rolf Boone: 360-754-5403 rboone@theolympian.com theolympian.com/bizblog @rolf_boone