BankAtlantic Bancorp Plummets After Swinging to Q3 Loss

shares are plunging after the financial services holding company reported it swung to a third-quarter loss. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company recorded a quarterly net loss of $29.6 million, or $0.52 per share, below analyst expectations of earning $0.10 per share and compared with a profit of $2.5 million, or $0.04 per share, a year earlier.

“This quarter's financial results reflect the continuing impact of the current economic environment on our business, particularly the deteriorating residential real estate market, contributing to higher non-performing asset levels, increased loan loss reserves, further valuation impairment of real estate owned and held for sale, and net interest margin compression,” CEO Alan B. Levan said in a statement. “The impact of the decline in the Florida residential real estate market has been significant.”

Levan said the company does not project market conditions to improve during the near-term and expects the negative factors to impact fourth-quarter and fiscal 2008 results.

Total interest income for the three months ended Sept. 30 declined to $94.9 million, from $95.1 million during the same period of 2006.

Delinquent loans soared to $165.4 million at the end of the third quarter, from $21.8 million in June. The firm blamed 11 poor-performing commercial real estate loans on the negative results. BankAtlantic also said it increased its reserves for bad loans and wrote down the value of its real estate property.

In morning trading, BBX shares are plunging 41.83%, or $3.20, at $4.45. Over the last 52 weeks, shares have ranged from $4.45 to $14.

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