More than two months after reporting a fourth-quarter profit of $778,000, WGNB Corp. of Carrollton, Ga., said it actually lost roughly $3.5 million in the quarter, after it discovered more problem loans in its real estate portfolio.
The $883 million-asset parent of First National Bank of Georgia said Friday that it had $58.3 million of nonperforming assets, or 8.69% of total loans, versus the $42 million, or 6.3% of total loans, it reported when it released earnings in mid-January.
WGNB also said it was adding $6.4 million to its loan-loss provisions for the fourth quarter, bringing the full-year total of $10.2 million.
For the full year, WGNB said it earned $3 million, versus the $7.3 million it reported in January.
Steven J. Haack, the company's chief financial officer, said in an interview that it became aware of additional impaired loans in mid-March, after it completed a review of its loan portfolio.
In a news release Friday, WGNB chief executive officer, H. B. "Rocky" Lipham 3rd, said, "The slow-down in the sale of subdivision lots has affected our construction and residential development borrowers' ability to service their debt."
By late Friday, WGNB's stock had declined about 6% from Thursday's close, to $16 a share.
