Fidelity Federal Bank Rebounds After Losses to Report Profit

Fidelity Federal Bank bounced back from a series of hefty losses to report a profit in the first quarter that ended March 31, marking the Glendale-based savings and loan’s first profitable quarter in two years.

Fidelity posted net income of $1.05 million for the first quarter, compared to a loss of $14.2 million in the same three-month period a year earlier. But Fidelity’s chief executive, Richard M. Greenwood, sounded a note of caution. “While we are encouraged by the current outlook for a stabilization in interest rates,” he said, “we have yet to see any significant rebound in the Southern California economy.”

Fidelity reported total assets of $3.68 billion as of March 31, down slightly from $3.71 billion a year earlier. Fidelity has made progress weeding out problem loans and foreclosed real estate holdings, as these non-performing assets represented just 2.5% of total assets as of March 31.