CCF Holding Co. of Jonesboro, Ga., announced Monday that it would take an $835,000 charge this quarter because a property in its real-estate-owned holdings lost value.
The charge, which amounts to 24 cents a share, would significantly reduce CCF's third-quarter earnings compared with earlier quarters. In the second quarter the $365 million-asset company made $1.4 million, and in last year's third quarter it earned $1.1 million.
The impaired property is a 7-acre tract of land that is part of a 22-acre parcel CCF's banking subsidiary, Heritage Bank, acquired through foreclosure last year. A prospective buyer uncovered engineering problems with the smaller parcel while conducting due diligence, and as a result canceled the deal last month. The issue was that a trench on the property that CCF officials had thought was a drainage ditch was actually a protected streambed, meaning it could not be developed without a costly and lengthy review process.
CCF said that the 22-acre parcel, once valued at $3 million, is now worth $2.2 million. The company added that it has not yet decided if it would be "cost-effective" to resolve the engineering issues.
