AmericanWest Bancorp in Spokane said fourth-quarter earnings dropped 32% from a year earlier, to $9.5 million, because of bigger provisions for loan losses and writedowns on foreclosed assets.
Processing Content
The $1 billion-asset parent of AmericanWest Bank said Wednesday that the loan-loss provision rose 67%, to $4.5 million, and that it wrote down $2.8 million of real-estate-related loans after foreclosing on properties used as collateral.
For the year, the loan-loss provision was up 106%, to $13 million. The 2004 figure included a $4 million provision for a problem loan related to one borrower.
Nonperforming assets rose 39%, to $27.7 million - 2.64% of total assets, versus 1.95% a year earlier.
