Shares of Columbia Bancorp of The Dalles, Ore., fell nearly 12% Tuesday after the company said it would report first-quarter earnings significantly lower than expected, citing an increase in problem residential construction loans and continued margin compression.
The $1 billion-asset Columbia said it plans to record a loan-loss provision of $3 million to $3.2 million for the quarter, or roughly five times its provision for the fourth quarter. As a result, it expects to report earnings of 11 to 13 cents a share; the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial had called for earnings of 35 cents.
For the first quarter of last year, Columbia posted net income of $3.5 million, or 34 cents a share.
Columbia's shares closed at $14.10 Tuesday.
