EARNINGS : Ahmanson Net Leaps; CalFed Earnings Dive

The parent company of Home Savings of America, the nation’s largest savings and loan, reported Monday that its first-quarter earnings rose 34%, while CalFed Inc. reported a 50.8% drop.

Home’s parent, H. F. Ahmanson & Co., deals almost entirely in adjustable-rate mortgages on single-family homes. CalFed, the nation’s fourth-largest thrift holding company and parent of California Federal Savings & Loan, is increasing its share of home loans tied to interest rate fluctuations.

H. F. Ahmanson & Co. said first-quarter earnings rose to $39.2 million from $29.2 million a year before, when Ahmanson reported a 66% profit drop due to a decline in earnings from sales of mortgage-backed securities.

Earnings for the first quarter of this year grew by more than 5% during the quarter to a record $38.7 billion on March 31, up 11% from $3.9 billion a year ago, with retail deposits for March alone at $807 million, which Home called its largest one-month gain in history. Deposits in February and March exceeded $1 billion.

Ahmanson officials last month denied that the influx was mostly due to a switch-over of funds from Gibraltar Savings & Loan, seized by the federal government.

Margins Widened

Virtually all loans in Home’s portfolio are monthly adjustable-rate mortgages, with loans on single-family homes accounting for 90% of the loans funded.

“Margins on new loans continued to widen throughout the quarter, from 2.37% in December to 2.41% in January, and to 2.53% over the index on the $1.1 billion of loans funded in March,” said Ahmanson Chairman and Chief Executive Richard H. Deihl.

Losses on loans and foreclosed real estate for the first quarter were $16.8 million, with losses in the same category at $15.1 million for last year.

Home Savings has assets of $42 billion and a $30.2-billion deposit base.

California Federal Savings reported 1989 first-quarter net earnings of $17.5 million, compared to $34.4 million for the first quarter of 1988.

Interest rate spreads narrowed to 1.79 from 2.47 for the March, 1988, quarter due to rising short-term interest rates over the last several months because of the higher cost of acquiring funds, CalFed said.

CalFed issued real estate, consumer and commercial loans of $1.41 billion, compared to a record $1.56 billion for the same time in 1988.

For the quarter ended March 31, CalFed said 83% of its total net loan portfolio consisted of adjustable-rate loans, compared to 78% one year ago.

CalFed’s deposit base increased 6.5% from $10.7 billion at the end of March, 1988, to $11.4 billion on the quarter just ended.

Net interest income for the company’s financial services area was $98.5 million for the first quarter of 1989, compared to $118.8 million for the same period in 1988.

CalFed Inc.’s assets totaled $28.3 billion at the end of March, compared to $27.6 billion at the end of 1988.

ADDITIONAL EARNINGS REPORTS: Page 7