Oxnard Bank Company Lifts Loss Allowance

Ventura County National Bancorp, the Oxnard-based parent of Ventura County National Bank and Frontier Bank, said it will boost its allowance for loan losses by $1.9 million, resulting in an overall loss of about $600,000 for its third quarter. In the three months ended Sept. 30, 1991, the company earned $655,000.

The bank holding company said the increase in loan loss provisions reflects the sluggish local economy. About $1 million of the additional loan-loss provisions is slated for unallocated loan losses, while the rest is targeted for the write-down of specific loans. The company did not provide additional details.

As of June 30, the allowance for loan losses stood at $2.9 million. Non-performing loans fell to $5.9 million, or 1.9% of total loans as of June 30, from $6.3 million, or 2.2%, a year earlier.

For the nine months, the company said it expects net income to fall 80%, to about $300,000 from $1.5 million in the year-earlier period. For the first half of 1992, Ventura’s net income rose 9%, to $903,000 from $828,000 a year earlier.