Ahmanson Profit Up 134% in First Quarter

H. F. Ahmanson & Co., parent of Home Savings of America, on Friday reported a 134% gain in first-quarter profit. Another savings and loan firm, Financial Corp. of Santa Barbara, reported a slight profit of $111,000, reversing a loss in the year-ago quarter.

Los Angeles-based Ahmanson posted record earnings of $36.5 million, up from $15.6 million in the first three months of 1984.

The firm attributed the increase to significantly higher net interest income, lower liability costs, improved margins, increased gains on sales of adjustable-rate loans and a substantial reduction in losses from insurance operations.

Earnings at Home Savings, the nation’s second-largest S&L;, totaled $37.6 million, up from $17.5 million a year ago. Net interest income totaled a record $116 million, up 62% from $71.6 million in the like 1984 period.

Financial Corp. of Santa Barbara’s first-quarter profit reversed a $3.3-million loss in the first three months of 1984.

The profit represented the second consecutive profitable three-month period for the ailing parent of Santa Barbara Savings & Loan Assn., the nation’s 68th-largest S&L; based on deposits. The parent firm had lost $80.9 million during the 15 previous quarters before the reversal, due largely to a high level of bad loans and an ill-fated branch expansion plan.

Philip R. Brinkerhoff, president and chief executive, attributed the profit primarily to the sale and leaseback of the firm’s headquarters building in Santa Barbara and its branch office in San Luis Obispo, which together contributed $2.5 million to income.

The firm also benefited from a lower cost of funds, widened margins and lower overhead expenses following the sale of branches.

Brinkerhoff, who became chief nearly four months ago, said the firm should post a net profit for all of 1985 “as long as interest rates remain near their present levels.”