ANB write-off pushes Great Southern to 1Q loss

SBJ Staff

Posted online May 20, 2008 | 9:44 am

Preliminary first-quarter results reported by Great Southern Bancorp Inc. a month ago were drastically revised in the company’s quarterly report filed Monday, 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 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 drags per-share earnings down to –$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 in this week’s cover story. “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 closed Monday at $13.10 – a 52-week low. Shares (Nasdaq: GSBC) were trading down at $12.79 as of 10:30 this morning.[[In-content Ad]]