| Washington Federal, Inc., parent company of Washington Federal Savings, recently announced earnings of $33,048,000 or $.38 per diluted share for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2007, compared to $33,384,000 or $.38 per diluted share for the same period one year ago. Total assets increased by $291 million or 3 percent to $10,576,641,000 from $10,285,417,000 at Sept. 30, 2007.
Washington Federal’s net loans outstanding increased to $8,355,814,000 as of Dec. 31, 2007, a 15.3 percent increase from one year ago. Total customer deposits were $6,065,931,000 a 13.2 percent increase from one year ago. Non-performing assets amounted to 0.38 percent of total assets at quarter-end. While this is a significant increase from the 0.08 percent one year ago, it is consistent with the Company’s ten year average non-performing assets ratio of 0.35 percent and lower than its 20 year average of 0.49 percent.
The Company’s total number of delinquent loans amounted to 0.82 percent of total loans, compared to the mortgage industry average of 5.59 percent. The Company’s efficiency ratio of 24.71 percent for the quarter remains among the lowest in the industry. The quarter produced a return on assets of 1.26 percent, while return on equity amounted to 9.95 percent. These ratios represent historical lows for the Company and are reflective of the effects of the rise in short term rates over the last few years, followed by the inversion of the yield curve, and higher non-performing assets.
Earnings this quarter include accrued interest reversals of $1,119,000 related to nonperforming loans, an increase in the loan loss provision to $1,000,000 and a gain on the sale of real estate in the amount of $1,246,000.
On Jan. 11, Washington Federal paid a cash dividend of $.21 per share to common stockholders of record on Dec. 28, 2007. It was the Company’s 100th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.
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