System Conversion Cuts into Washington Federal Profit

Washington Federal in Seattle said higher technology expenses related to a system conversion contributed to a lower profit in its 2016 fiscal first quarter.

The $14.6 billion-asset company said Tuesday that its net income fell 8.5% from a year earlier to $35.1 million in the three months, which ended Dec. 31. Earnings per share of 45 cents, however, beat the average estimate of analysts polled by Bloomberg by 5 cents.

Noninterest expense rose 20.3 % to $64.5 million, largely because of a $6.6 million system conversion investment that caused information technology expenses to increase by 116% to $8.7 million, the company said. It also cited a $1.9 million increase in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insurance, for which the agency gave it a one-time adjustment a year earlier.

Net interest income rose 4.6% to $106.8 million and the net interest margin was 3.18%, up from 3.01%.

Noninterest income rose 97.6% to $10.6 million.

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