Imperial Corp. of America, parent company of...

Imperial Corp. of America, parent company of Imperial Savings of California, reported that net income rose 77% to $11.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, up from $6.4 million in the previous second quarter.

Second-quarter earnings in 1987 were hurt by a $10.2-million after-tax write-off for a mandatory payment made to the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp.

Apart from last year’s write-off, ICA linked the increase to core earnings, or net interest income and fees less operating expenses, that rose by 43%, to $11.9 million, up from $8.3 million during last year’s second quarter.

Also, ICA trimmed operating expenses for the quarter to $40.3 million, down from $52.8 million during the previous second quarter.

ICA’s assets rose to $12.1 billion on June 30, up from $10.9 billion on March 31.

ICA’s performance “demonstrates that we are making substantial progress in increasing our core earnings and profitably diversifying our business activities,” according to a prepared statement by Kenneth J. Thygerson, president and chief executive officer.

ICA reported $17.5 million in net income for the first half of 1988, down from $25.3 million during 1987.

A spokesman linked the first-half drop to “a substantial decline in (gains) on sale of mortgage loans and mortgage-loan servicing contracts.” Gains from those sales, which were $3.8 million for the first six months of 1988, versus $31.8 million last year, fell because mortgage sales peaked “during the year’s cyclical low-interest-rate levels,” according to the spokesman.