More loan losses on the way

Article Excerpt

WASHINGTON FEDERAL INC. $12 (Nasdaq symbol WFSL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 88.1 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; WSSF Rating: Average) earned $8.4 million, or $0.10 a share, in its second fiscal quarter, which ended March 31, 2009. That’s a 76.3% drop from its year-earlier earnings of $35.5 million, or $0.40 a share. Washington Federal raised its loan-loss provisions during the quarter, to $54 million from $9.5 million a year earlier. This was the main reason for the decline. Moreover, the bank warns that rising defaults on residential and commercial mortgages will keep its loss provisions at a high level in its third fiscal quarter. Washington Federal is a hold. hold…