| Washington Federal, Inc., parent company of Washington Federal Savings, which operates branches in Silverdale and Poulsbo, announced earnings of $33,384,000 or $.38 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2006, compared to $36,146,000 or $.41 per diluted share for the same period one year earlier, a 7.3 percent decrease in earnings per share.
Washington Federal’s total assets amounted to $9,150,828,000, a 10.2 percent increase from Dec. 31, 2005.
Net loans outstanding increased to $7,246,311,000, a 15.7 percent increase, while on-performing assets amounted to only 0.08 percent of total assets at quarter-end. The Company’s efficiency ratio of 21.29 percent for the quarter remains among the lowest in the industry. The quarter produced a return on assets of 1.47 percent, while return on equity amounted to 10.50 percent.
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Roy M. Whitehead commented, “Reduced earnings are attributable to a decline in net interest spread to 2.09 percent during the quarter, which approached the company’s all-time low of 2.00 percent experienced in December 2000, as prior increases by the Federal Reserve in short-term interest rates continued to pass through to our funding costs during the quarter. This is a normal, yet challenging, part of the interest rate cycle.”
On Jan. 12, Washington Federal paid a cash dividend of $.205 per share to common stockholders of record on December 29, 2006. This was the company’s 96th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.
On October 10, 2006, Washington Federal announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement to acquire First Federal Banc of the Southwest, Inc. (“First Federal”). First Federal is headquartered in Roswell, New Mexico with 13 branches in New Mexico and 2 branches in El Paso, Texas. First Federal reported total assets of $547 million, total deposits of $377 million and total stockholders’ equity of $54 million as of September 30, 2006. The transaction is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of this year. |
