ANB write-off pushes Great Southern to 1Q loss

SBJ Staff

Posted online May 25, 2008 | 11:00 pm

Preliminary first-quarter results reported by Great Southern Bancorp Inc. a month ago were drastically revised in the company’s quarterly report filed May 19, now showing a $15.15 million net loss that reflects a write-off of $35 million in loans made to the failed ANB Financial.

Great Southern (Nasdaq: GSBC) had issued a $30 million stock loan and $5 million in associated, under-collateralized loans to Bentonville, Ark.-based ANB, which federal regulators shut down May 9. Because of the closure’s timing, and the fact that Great Southern had not yet filed its quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank opted to reflect the charge-off in the first quarter, according to a Great Southern news release.

The decision nullifies the bank’s preliminary results announced April 17, which had reported $7.6 million in net income and earnings of 57 cents per diluted share. The write-off results in a loss of per-share earnings of $1.13.

“We had the relationship (with ANB) for 11 years, and ANB was a very profitable company – strongly capitalized. Obviously, we’re surprised and disappointed by the way it turned out,” Great Southern President Joe Turner told SBJ earlier this month. “We’ll take the charge, and we’ll move on. … That’s the lending business.”

Springfield-based Great Southern’s stock prices have been steadily falling from about $27 per share a year ago and reached a new 52-week low May 21 at $11.78. Shares closed May 21 at $11.90.[[In-content Ad]]