Capital Corp. of the West's shares fell sharply Wednesday, a day after the Merced, Calif., company issued a profit warning for the third quarter.
The $1.8 billion-asset Capital said it should report core earnings, excluding one-time gains and expenses, of about 47 to 50 cents a share, versus the average analyst's estimate of 55 cents. It earned 52 cents a share in the third quarter last year. The company largely cited anticipated margin compression as a result of rising deposit costs.
In heavy trading Wednesday, Capital's shares fell 4.24%, to $32.08.
In a webcast Wednesday during the RBC Capital Markets Financial Institutions Conference in Boston, Capital Corp.'s chief executive, Thomas T. Hawker, said his company should be able to offset margin compression in the future, since it recently launched a number of promotions to attract low-cost demand deposits.
