Whitney Holding Corp.'s stock price fell sharply Thursday after the New Orleans company reported third-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations.
The $10.2 billion-asset company earned $35.2 million in the third quarter, up 286% from the same period in 2005. Diluted earnings per share rose 279%, to 54 cents, though they missed the average of analysts' estimates by 6 cents, according to Thomson Financial.
Whitney's stock fell 3.5% Thursday in heavy trading.
Last year's earnings were skewed by a $34 million credit provision Whitney took to cover losses related to Hurricane Katrina.
In this year's third quarter, Whitney took no provision for loan losses. And though it reported a 7% increase in total loans, to $6.8 billion, and a 16% increase in deposits, to $8.4 billion, much of that growth came as a result of its acquisition of First National Bank & Trust in April. Without that acquisition, loan growth would have been flat since Dec. 31 and total deposits would have declined by 7%.
Whitney also reported significant increase in its noninterest expenses, as the company revised its disaster recovery plans.
