Stung by defaults in its residential construction loan portfolio, Cowlitz Bancorp. in Longview, Wash., reported a $3.1 million loss in the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $1.2 million a year earlier.
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For the full year, it reported earnings of just $86,000, versus $4.8 million in 2006.
In a press release issued late Friday, Richard J. Fitzpatrick, the $514 million-asset Cowlitz's president and chief executive, blamed the loss on weakness in the Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., real estate markets, which forced his company to charge off $6.9 million and increase its loan-loss provision.
