Glenfed’s 3rd-Quarter Profits Down Sharply

Glenfed Inc., parent of Glendale Federal, announced Thursday that third-quarter earnings were off sharply due partly to rising interest rates.

For the quarter ended March 31, the firm reported net income of $20.2 million, down from $45.6 million in 1988. The 1988 quarterly earnings included an extraordinary item of $9.9 million for utilization of tax loss carry-forwards.

Norman Coulson, president and chief executive of Glenfed, said: “Our earnings were impacted by a narrowing of our interest rate spread, a phenomenon affecting the majority of the thrift industry . . . Yields on our adjustable-rate mortgage portfolio increased and operating expenses declined, but these improvements were more than offset by rapidly rising short-term interest rates.”

Coulson also said that deposit flows, which had been negative in January and February, rebounded strongly in March.

Glendale is the nation’s fifth-largest savings and loan.