PrivateBancorp Inc. in Chicago announced Wednesday that it would take an after-tax charge of $800,000 this quarter to cover losses related to theft by an employee.
The $3.9 billion-asset company said in a press release that the charge would reduce its earnings per share by 4 cents. The company earned $9.8 million last quarter, or 46 cents per share.
PrivateBancorp said that a staff-level employee in its operations department used a series of fraudulent transactions during several years to take company funds and that the fraud did not affect any PrivateBancorp customer.
The company said it would try to recoup the money, including by asking for a recovery under its insurance bond. It also said the employee is the subject of a federal criminal investigation.
Analysts at BMO Capital Markets Corp. and BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc.'s Ryan Beck & Co. adjusted their earnings estimates accordingly but said they did not expect this to be a long-term problem for the company. Its stock closed down 0.7%.
