Valley Federal Write-Off Blamed for Earnings Drop

Valley Federal Savings & Loan reported a 49% drop in fourth-quarter profit, largely because of a write-off by one of its financing units.

The Van Nuys-based S&L; said its earnings in the quarter ended Dec. 31 fell to $2.5 million, or 38 cents a share, from $4.9 million, or 80 cents a share, a year earlier.

The latest results included a $6.3-million write-off by All Valley Acceptance Co., a Valley Federal unit that provides loans for manufactured housing. The write-off was necessary because “a large number” of borrowers paid off loans much earlier than expected and thus deprived All Valley Acceptance of future interest income, Valley Federal said.

For all of 1987, Valley Federal’s profit slipped 3% to $16.5 million, or $2.66 a share, from $17 million, or $2.75 a share, in 1986. The S&L;’s assets grew by 25% last year to $3.32 billion from $2.66 billion.