Shares of BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., fell 3.3% Thursday after it disclosed in a Securities and Exchange filing that it had discovered a problem with a large development loan.
The $6.6 billion-asset company said in its quarterly filing Wednesday that it had transferred the $26.6 million land acquisition and development loan to nonaccrual status. The move increased its nonperforming assets at Sept. 30 to $35.1 million - more than four times the amount it reported when it announced its third-quarter earnings Oct. 18.
BankAtlantic said the borrower only recently advised company officials that contracts for sales of the land parcels had been terminated. A call to BankAtlantic's chief financial officer was not returned by press time.
