Moore Financial Group, parent company of Continental Bank and Trust in Utah and Idaho First National Bank, ended 1988 with a fourth-quarter profit 43 percent above 1987.
Moore earned $7.3 million during the quarter. Net income in the same three months of 1987 was $5.1 million. Third-quarter income last year was $7 million.For the year, Moore earned $25.5 million, 51 percent higher than all of 1987, when it reported a net income of $16.9 million.
"It was a record earnings year for us due to the improved economic strength of our service areas, increased loan growth and substantial improvement in the quality of our loan portfolio," said Daniel Nelson, chairman.
The company bought some $200 million of Salt Lake-based Tracy Collins Bank assets and a like amount of liabilities from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in December.
In September, Moore bought First Western Bank of Bellevue, Wash. near Seattle. Acquisition of the Community Bank of Renton, just south of Seattle, should be completed during this quarter, Nelson said.