Whitney Holding Corp. in New Orleans announced Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 11% from a year earlier, to $30.2 million, because of a surge in nonperforming loans.
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Earnings per share fell roughly 12%, to 45 cents.
The percentage of nonperforming assets to loans more than doubled from Dec. 31, 2006, to 1.64% at the end of 2007. As a result, the company's loan-loss provision for the fourth quarter rose by $9 million from a year earlier, to $10 million.
Investors might have been expecting worse news. In late trading Wednesday, Whitney's shares rose 9.5% from Tuesday's close, to $24.38.
