Prudential Bancorp of Pennsylvania, the holding company for Prudential Savings Bank, has reported a net loss of $993,000, or $0.09 basic or diluted earnings per share, for the first quarter ended December 31, 2008 as compared to net income of $614,000, or $0.06 per basic or diluted earnings per share, for the same period of 2007.
The company said that the net loss reported for the period was primarily due to a $2.2 million non-cash other than temporary impairment charge related to certain of the non-agency mortgage-backed securities received as a result of the redemption in kind of a mutual fund during the third quarter of fiscal 2008.
Net interest income increased $998,000 or 36.1% to $3.8 million for the three months ended December 31, 2008 as compared to $2.8 million for the same period in 2007. The increase was due to a $566,000 or 8.5% increase in interest income combined with a $432,000 or 11.1% decrease in interest expense.
As of December 31, 2008, the company’s total assets were $491.8 million, an increase of $2.3 million from $489.5 million at September 30, 2008.
Tom Vento, president and CEO of Prudential Bancorp, said: Our earnings, like most financial institutions, have been adversely affected in recent quarters due to the extraordinary turmoil in the secondary market for mortgage-backed and mortgage-related securities and the economic recession. We continue to have capital levels substantially above the levels to be considered well capitalized.
