West Coast Bancorp in Lake Oswego, Ore., reported a profit of $4.6 million in the second quarter, a vast improvement over the same period last year, but a bit of a letdown when compared with this year's first quarter.
Earnings per share came in at 22 cents for the quarter, well above the 20 cents per share West Coast lost in last year's second quarter. In a news release Friday, the $2.5 billion-asset company attributed the turnaround largely to a 37% drop in nonperforming loans and a 60% decrease in its interest expense.
Still, after West Coast earned $5.1 million in the first quarter, Wall Street was expecting better. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted that the West Coast would earn closer to 28 cents per share in the quarter.
West Coast's shares fell seven cents on Friday, to close at $16.28.
