Washington Federal, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFSL) today announced earnings of $33,418,000, or $.31 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, compared to $24,530,000, or $.22 per diluted share, for the same period one year ago. Net income increased by 36% and earnings per share improved by 41%, driven primarily by lower credit costs. Credit related expenses, which include the provision for loan losses and charges related to real estate owned ("REO"), were $21,779,000 for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, a decrease of $14,774,000, or 40%, from the same quarter one year ago.

Chairman, President and CEO Roy M. Whitehead commented, "We are very pleased to report the sixth consecutive quarter of improved earnings. Loan losses continued to decline, demand for foreclosed real estate increased noticeably, and improved economic conditions in virtually all of our markets were reported. Loan demand and revenue growth remain elusive, but it's a very good start to our new fiscal year."

During the quarter the Company closed two separate acquisitions. On October 14th, $254 million in deposits and six branch locations in New Mexico were acquired from the former Charter Bank. Two of the acquired branches are in Santa Fe and four are located in Albuquerque. On December 16th, the Company entered into a transaction with the FDIC to acquire substantially all of the assets and liabilities of the former Western National Bank ("WNB"), headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. WNB had gross loans of $143 million, along with $135 million in deposits and three branch locations. The Agreement with the FDIC, which does not include a loss sharing provision, provided the Company with a discount on assets of $53 million and no deposit premium. Final purchase accounting adjustments will be made in the coming quarter, but at this time the Company does not anticipate recording a significant upfront gain or goodwill asset as a result of this transaction. Loans that were classified as non-performing loans by WNB are no longer classified as non-performing because, at acquisition, the carrying value of these loans was adjusted to reflect fair value. Management believes that the new book value reflects an amount that will ultimately be collected. Due to the Company's existing presence in the Phoenix market, it is anticipated that two of the WNB branch locations will be consolidated into nearby Washington Federal branches.

During the quarter the Company's loan portfolio decreased by $126 million or 2% as mortgage loans refinanced elsewhere at historically low interest rates. Investment securities increased by $288 million or 9% as management invested the proceeds from the two acquisitions closed during the quarter. As of December 31, 2011, the investment portfolio had an unrealized gain of $136 million, a slight decrease from the $139 million at September 30, 2011. Deposits increased by $210 million or 2% as a result of the two acquisitions.

Cash and cash equivalents were $910 million at December 31, 2011, an increase of $94 million from the prior quarter. The ratio of tangible common equity to tangible assets decreased slightly during the quarter to 12.35% from 12.52%. During the quarter the Company repurchased 1,550,000 shares at a weighted average price of $13.11. Under its existing authorization, the Company can repurchase an additional 7,533,514 shares.

Net interest margin contracted slightly to 3.27% from 3.36% on a linked quarter basis. The benefit from decreasing interest expense on deposits was more than offset by the reduced yield on assets as a result of repayments and reinvestment at lower yields.

The Company's efficiency ratio of 31.7% for the quarter remains among the lowest in the industry. The quarter produced a return on assets of .98%, while return on equity amounted to 7.0%, both of these measures are substantial improvements over the prior year.

Non-performing assets amounted to $344 million, or 2.52% of total assets, at quarter-end. This represents an improvement of $99 million or 22% from December 31, 2010, and a $26 million improvement from September 30, 2011. Non-performing loans totaled $186 million on December 31, 2011, which is a 62% decline from the peak of $492 million on June 30, 2009. Net loan charge-offs decreased from $30 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2010 to $14 million in the current quarter, a $16 million or 53% decrease.

Overall delinquencies declined to 3.13% in the current quarter from 3.43% at September 30, 2011; the delinquency rate on single-family residential mortgages, the largest portion of the loan portfolio, decreased from 3.25% to 3.17%. The total allowance for loan losses, including specific reserves accounted for under ASC 310-10, amounted to $155 million, or 1.88% of total gross loans. As of quarter end the general allowance for loan losses totaled $115 million or 1.44% of loans subject to the general allowance. One year ago, the general allowance for loan losses totaled $101 million or 1.25% of loans. This increase in the general reserve was deemed necessary due to the elevated level of delinquency in the single family portfolio, continued high unemployment rates and weakness in the housing market. The total allowance decreased by $2.6 million, on a linked quarter basis due to improving credit metrics in the portfolio as described in the preceding paragraphs.

On January 13, 2012, Washington Federal will pay a cash dividend of $.08 per share to common stockholders of record on December 30, 2011. This will be the Company's 116th consecutive quarterly cash dividend and represents a 33% increase in the cash dividend of $.06 paid to stockholders in the preceding four quarters.

The Company's Annual Meeting of Stockholders will be held at 2:00 p.m. on January 18, 2012, at the Westin Hotel, 1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, Washington.

Washington Federal, with headquarters in Seattle, Washington, has 166 offices in eight western states.

To find out more about the Company, please visit our website. The Company uses its website to distribute financial and other material information about the Company, which is routinely posted on and accessible at www.washingtonfederal.com.

Important Cautionary Statements

The foregoing information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements, notes and other information contained in the Company's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.

Financial information contained in this release should be considered to be an estimate until the Company files its first fiscal quarter Form 10-Q for 2012 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While the Company is not aware of any need to revise the results disclosed in this release, accounting literature may require adverse information received by management on troubled assets between the date of this release and the filing of the Form 10-Q to be reflected in the results of this quarter, even though the new information was received by management subsequent to the date of this release.

Statements contained herein that are not historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements with respect to Washington Federal. Forward-looking statements of this type speak only as of the date of this report. By nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risk and uncertainties. Various factors, including, but not limited to, unforeseen local, regional, national or global events, economic conditions, asset quality, interest rates, loan demand, changes in business or consumer spending, borrowing or savings habits, deposit growth, adequacy of the reserve for loan losses, competition, stock price volatility, government monetary and economic policy, anticipated expense levels, changes in laws and regulations, the level of success of the company's asset/liability management strategies as well as its marketing, product development, sales and other strategies, the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies as well as the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other accounting standard setters, the costs and effects of litigation and of unexpected or adverse outcomes in such litigation, and changes in the assumptions used in making the forward-looking statements, could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Washington Federal undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent circumstances, events or information or for any other reason.


                 WASHINGTON FEDERAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
               CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
                                (UNAUDITED)

                                      December 31, 2011  September 30, 2011
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                      (In thousands, except per share data)
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents            $          909,911  $          816,002
Available-for-sale securities                 3,548,076           3,255,144
Held-to-maturity securities                      42,226              47,036
Loans receivable, net                         7,810,075           7,935,877
Covered loans, net                              347,469             382,183
Interest receivable                              53,974              52,332
Premises and equipment, net                     174,026             166,593
Real estate held for sale                       157,882             159,829
Covered real estate held for sale                48,534              56,383
FDIC indemnification asset                       92,103             101,634
FHLB stock                                      153,333             151,755
Intangible assets, net                          256,952             256,271
Other assets                                     55,155              59,710
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                     $       13,649,716  $       13,440,749
                                     ==================  ==================

LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Liabilities
Customer accounts
  Transaction deposit accounts       $        2,850,217  $        2,662,188
  Time deposit accounts                       6,025,458           6,003,715
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                              8,875,675           8,665,903
FHLB advances                                 1,960,868           1,962,066
Other borrowings                                800,000             800,000
Advance payments by borrowers for
 taxes and insurance                             15,142              39,548
Federal and state income taxes                   19,423               1,535
Accrued expenses and other
 liabilities                                     68,221              65,164
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                             11,739,329          11,534,216
Stockholders' Equity
Common stock, $1.00 par value,
 300,000,000 shares authorized;
 129,887,559 and 129,853,534 shares
 issued; 107,460,435 and 108,976,410
 shares outstanding                             129,888             129,854
Paid-in capital                               1,583,666           1,582,843
Accumulated other comprehensive
 income, net of taxes                            84,196              85,789
Treasury stock, at cost; 22,427,124
 and 20,877,124 shares                         (288,976)           (268,665)
Retained earnings                               401,613             376,712
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                              1,910,387           1,906,533
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                     $       13,649,716  $       13,440,749
                                     ==================  ==================
CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Common stockholders' equity per
 share                               $            17.78  $            17.49
Tangible common stockholders' equity
 per share                                        15.39               15.14
Stockholders' equity to total assets              14.00%              14.18%
Tangible common stockholders' equity
 to tangible assets                               12.35               12.52
Weighted average rates at period end
  Loans and mortgage-backed
   securities                                      5.32%               5.43%
  Combined loans, mortgage-backed
   securities and investment
   securities                                      4.85                4.97
  Customer accounts                                1.03                1.14
  Borrowings                                       4.04                4.04
  Combined cost of customer accounts
   and borrowings                                  1.74                1.84
  Interest rate spread                             3.11                3.13




                 WASHINGTON FEDERAL, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
                   CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
                                (UNAUDITED)

                                           Quarter Ended December 31,
                                     --------------------------------------
                                            2011                2010
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                      (In thousands, except per share data)
INTEREST INCOME
Loans & covered loans                $          127,480  $          137,916
Mortgage-backed securities                       26,296              23,694
Investment securities and cash
 equivalents                                      2,151               3,980
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                                155,927             165,590

INTEREST EXPENSE
Customer accounts                                23,949              32,734
FHLB advances and other borrowings               28,263              28,122
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                                 52,212              60,856
                                     ------------------  ------------------

Net interest income                             103,715             104,734

Provision for loan losses                        11,209              26,000
                                     ------------------  ------------------
Net interest income after provision
 for loan losses                                 92,506              78,734

OTHER INCOME
Other                                             4,645               4,426
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                                  4,645               4,426

OTHER EXPENSE
Compensation and benefits                        18,675              17,723
Occupancy                                         3,931               3,515
FDIC premiums                                     4,193               5,099
Other                                             7,565               7,942
                                     ------------------  ------------------
                                                 34,364              34,279
Loss on real estate acquired through
 foreclosure, net                               (10,570)            (10,553)
                                     ------------------  ------------------
Income before income taxes                       52,217              38,328
Income taxes provision                           18,799              13,798
                                     ------------------  ------------------
NET INCOME                           $           33,418  $           24,530
                                     ==================  ==================

PER SHARE DATA
Basic earnings                       $              .31  $              .22
Diluted earnings                                    .31                 .22
Cash dividends per share                            .08                 .06
Basic weighted average number of
 shares outstanding                         107,845,011         112,499,175
Diluted weighted average number of
 shares outstanding, including
 dilutive stock options                     107,894,572         112,502,134

PERFORMANCE RATIOS
Return on average assets                            .98%                .73%
Return on average common equity                    7.02%               5.30%



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