NEW ORLEANS — Gulf Coast banker Whitney Holding Corp. posted a second-quarter loss as the company continued to battle problem real estate loans in Florida, the company reported Tuesday.
For the April-through-June period, Whitney lost $18 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with a year-ago loss in the second quarter of $21.3 million, or 38 cents per share. But the loss was nearly triple from the first quarter of 2010 when Whitney lost $6.3 million, or 11 cents per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, had forecast a per-share loss of 20 cents for the latest quarter.
Whitney CEO John C. Pope III said the sluggish second-quarter economy held back the company.
"It has become increasingly difficult to predict the timing of a solid economic recovery and this, coupled with the impact of the Gulf oil spill appears to be having business activity in our markets, has tempered our optimism for the remainder of 2010," Pope said.
Whitney set aside $59 million for credit losses in the latest quarter, an increase of $21.5 million from the first quarter, but still down $15 million from the second quarter of 2009. About 60 percent of the latest provision covered real estate loans in Florida, the company said.
The provision also included $5 million to cover possible impacts on tourism from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Whitney said its direct exposure to fishing, seafood processing and marina industries totals about $35 million — and the company expects minimal impact in those sectors.
Nonperforming loans totaled $451 million, an increase of $15 million from the first quarter, Whitney said just over 50 percent of those loans came from Florida, with 21 percent from Louisiana, 16 percent from Texas and 11 percent from Alabama and Mississippi.
Noninterest income — mostly the product of banking fees — rose $3.5 million, or 12 percent, from the first quarter.
Whitney said its regulatory capital ratios remained above those required by banking regulators to be considered well-capitalized.