Umpqua Holdings Reports 1Q Loss On Credit Costs

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Regional bank Umpqua Holdings Corp. on Thursday reported a loss for the first quarter — falling short of Wall Street's estimates — as credit costs more than tripled.

Shares dropped 68 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $9.47 in morning trading.

After paying preferred dividends, the bank reported a net loss of $13.8 million, or 23 cents per share, compared with a profit of $24.7 million, or 41 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, had expected the bank to break even in the first quarter.

The company set aside $51.4 million to cover potential loan losses, up 61 percent from the fourth quarter and more than three times the amount set aside in the first quarter of last year.

The amount of loans which the bank determined it is unlikely to collect on, known as net chargeoffs, soared to $55.2 million from $13.5 million in the prior-year quarter. The rate of net chargeoffs to average loans and leases jumped to 3.65 percent from 1.94 percent in the fourth quarter and 0.89 percent in the first quarter of 2008.