Add Teche Holding Co. of Franklin, La., to the list of Gulf Coast banking companies reporting earnings declines in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The $672 million-asset company said Friday that earnings in its fiscal fourth quarter fell 49% from a year earlier, to $705,000.
Like others on the Gulf, Teche attributed the decline largely to its decision to boost its loan-loss provision to cover anticipated defaults. The company boosted its loan-loss provision to $815,000, from a mere $15,000 in the same quarter a year earlier.
It said that though about $6.5 million of its loans are at risk as a result of Katrina, it arrived at the $800,000 figure after talking to its borrowers.
Apart from the provisions, the earnings news was positive. Deposits grew by a record 19.3%, to $516 million, and noninterest income rose 34.7%, to $2.7 million, thanks largely to deposit service charges.
