Washington Federal Predicts $39M Loss

Washington Federal Inc. projected late Friday that it would post a loss of $39 million for its fiscal fourth quarter, which will end Sept. 30, because of an $88 million writedown in the value of its holdings of preferred stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The $11.8 billion-asset Seattle thrift company also said it expects to set aside about $35 million for loan losses, or 165% more than it did in the previous quarter. It forecast that its ratio of nonperforming assets to total assets would more than double from June 30, to about 1.5% at Sept. 30.