Whitney Holding Co. of New Orleans announced Tuesday that it expects to report a third-quarter profit of $6 million to $8 million, or 10 cents to 12 cents a share, which would be well below analysts' estimates.
The $11 billion-asset company cited "continued pressures in the credit and real estate markets."
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected Whitney to post per-share earnings of 24 cents. It earned $48.8 million, or 71 cents a share, in last year's third quarter.
Whitney said in a pre-earnings announcement that its ratio of nonperforming assets to total assets, plus foreclosed assets and surplus property, increased by as much as 198 basis points, to 3.10% to 3.20%, from 1.22% a year earlier. It expects to report that its provision for loan losses more than quadrupled. to a range of $38 million to $42 million.
"While we remain hopeful that the situation currently facing the real estate and other markets will moderate soon, we cannot predict when this cycle will turn," said John C. Hope 3rd, Whitney's chairman and chief executive.
Whitney's shares were trading at $20.73 late Tuesday, down 5.6%.
