Westcorp Has a 44% Gain in Annual Net Income

Westcorp in Orange, the holding company for Western Financial Savings Bank, has passed the $1-billion mark in assets and posted annual net income of $11.1 million for 1986, a 44% increase from the $7.7 million earned the previous year.

The company’s fourth-quarter net income rose 26.8% to $2.4 million from $1.9 million in the final quarter of 1985.

With its unusual blend of commercial and real estate loans, Westcorp ended the year with $1.3 billion in assets, a 70.7% increase from $761.7 million in assets a year earlier. Western Savings, the company’s primary subsidiary, was one of only a few institutions that regulators allowed to grow by more than 25% last year.

A number of factors led to the company’s strong financial condition, said Stephen W. Prough, Westcorp’s president and chief operating officer. The company raised $52 million last May in a public offering of 5.1 million shares, he said, and its unique once-a-year bond offerings based on receivables from automobile loans added $190 million to the company’s revenues.

Western Financial, the result of a merger of an S&L; and a thrift and loan, has traditionally made as many commercial loans, primarily automobile loans, as real estate loans. Most S&Ls; are primarily real estate lenders. Last year, Western Financial’s commercial loans totaled $461 million--the same as its real estate loans.

Including mortgage-backed securities, the S&L;’s total loans were $1.16 billion, more than twice the previous year’s total loans of $530 million.

Total deposits at the S&L; were $619 million, a 34.6% increase over the previous year’s total deposits of $420 million.

The S&L; has 20 branch offices, seven real estate loan offices and four automobile dealer centers statewide.