Great Southern reports 48 cents per share in 4Q

The quarter’s earnings were negatively impacted by 5 cents per share because of a valuation write-down of $1.1 million in impaired Freddie Mac perpetual preferred stock, according to a company news release.

Preliminary earnings for the year were $2.15 per share, down from $2.22 per share in 2006.

Loans increased $141 million, or 8 percent, from 2006, and total deposits increased $110 million, or 12 percent, from the previous year.

“The current operating environment continues to be challenging for our company and the entire industry,” President and CEO Joseph Turner said in the release. “Over the last year, our loan portfolio grew at a relatively steady pace from linked quarter to quarter, but our growth in 2007 was below our five-year average loan growth of 11 percent.”

Net income was $6.44 million for the quarter, down from $7.99 million in fourth-quarter 2006, and $29.3 million for the year, slightly down from $30.7 million in 2006.

Net interest income for the quarter was $17.8 million, a slight increase from $17.6 million the previous year. Net interest income for the year was $71.4 million, also a bit higher than $69.2 million in 2006. Despite the growth, the company contends that net interest income was adversely affected by the reversal of $307,000 in interest income on nonperforming assets, an increase in the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, and effects of immediate decreases in the company’s prime rate and the lagging effect of reduced funding costs, according to the release.

Shares (Nasdaq: GSBC) closed Wednesday at $18.19, compared to a 52-week range of $16.80 to $30.40.