Anchor of Washington Swings to Loss for Fiscal Year

Weighed down by problem loans, Anchor Bancorp in Lacey, Wash., reported a loss of $4.7 million in the quarter that ended June 30, more than quadrupling its loss from the same period a year earlier.

For its fiscal year that also ended June 30, the $490 million-asset company in Lacey, Wash., swung to a net loss of $8.8 million from a profit of $420,000 from a year earlier.

Anchor attributed the wider quarterly loss to a 212% increase in its provision for loan losses, to $8.1 million.

Jerald Shaw, the company's president and chief executive officer, said in a news release Wednesday that Anchor is work to improve its credit quality. Nonperforming assets decreased by 24% year over year, to $26.9 million, as Anchor continued to charge off problem loans, For the quarter, Anchor charged $4.2 million, the bulk of which were commercial and industrial loans related to two borrowers.

The quarter that ended June 30 was Anchor's first full quarter as a publicly traded company. The 104-year-old thrift raised about $23.5 million in a public offering in January. -- Jackie Stewart