Ahmanson Profit Rises 17% in Quarter

H. F. Ahmanson & Co. said Thursday that it notched record profits for both the fourth quarter and the full year that ended Dec. 31.

The Los Angeles-based parent firm of Home Savings of America said fourth-quarter earnings rose 17% over year-ago levels to $80.3 million, while earnings for the entire year rose 37% to $304 million.

It “was a record year in every respect,” Ahmanson Chairman Richard H. Deihl said in a statement. “We began the year with a number of ambitious goals and exceeded each of them.”

Lending volume totaled $9.85 billion in 1986, including $1.51 billion in December, the first time that monthly loan volume has ever exceeded $1 billion, the firm said. Fourth-quarter loan volume was $3.25 billion, 38% higher than in the fourth quarter of 1985, company figures show.

The record loan amounts occurred even though Home Savings offers only adjustable-rate mortgages. It makes no fixed-rate home loans, which are very popular with consumers today because mortgage rates are the lowest in 10 years.