AmericanWest Bancorp. in Spokane said Thursday that it has given up on getting an investment from the Treasury Department, but that it is still pursuing other avenues to raise capital.
The $1.8 billion-asset company applied in November for $57 million through the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The investment was contingent on its raising a matching amount from the private sector. The company said Thursday that it did not expect to do so by the deadline.
On March 31, AmericanWest said, it remained undercapitalized when measured with the total risk-based capital ratio and merely adequately capitalized when measured with the Tier 1 risk-based capital and leverage ratios. It did not provide the March 31 ratios; on Dec. 31 the total risk-based ratio was 6.83%, the Tier 1 risk-based ratio was 4.99% and the leverage ratio was 4.57%.
"As we have previously indicated, our plan to restore AmericanWest to well-capitalized status was not contingent upon Tarp capital," Patrick J. Rusnak, AmericanWest's chief executive, said in a press release.
For example, the company said it is "continuing discussions" with an investor that had completed due diligence for the matching $57 million investment.
The company also said it has received offers to buy branches and assets. The offers are acceptable to the board but still need regulatory approval, it said.
AmericanWest also said Thursday that its net loss narrowed 54% from a year earlier, to $14.5 million last quarter. On a per-share basis, AmericanWest lost 84 cents — 46 cents less than the average estimate from analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
In March, AmericanWest warned it "may not be able to continue to operate as a going concern."
