Great Southern reports lower net income

Net income for the third quarter totaled $7.3 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, down 8.8 percent from the $8 million in third-quarter 2006.

Net interest income for the third quarter totaled $17.93 million, up from $17.87 million in third-quarter 2006. For the year to-date, net income is up 3.8 percent to $53.6 million.

Total deposits, excluding brokered and national certificates of deposit, increased $156 million, or 17 percent, since the beginning of the year, while loans increased $93 million, or 5 percent.

“Despite the challenging operating environment, growth in loans and core deposits continued at a healthy pace in the third quarter,” said Great Southern President and CEO Joseph W. Turner in a news release. He said nonperforming assets increased during the quarter, and while a portion of those problem credits were residential construction and development loans, they were not loans made to subprime consumers.

Company shares (Nasdaq: GSBC) closed Wednesday at $25.48, compared to a 52-week range of $23.67 to $32.14.