U.S. Thrifts Post Loss After Paying Fee

The U.S. thrift industry posted a net loss of $505 million in the third quarter after paying a one-time $2.1-billion after-tax fee to replenish its deposit insurance fund, the Office of Thrift Supervision said. The thrifts would have earned $1.6 billion in the period if they hadn’t paid the fee, the OTS said. In return for the one-time insurance fund contribution, thrifts will pay lower premiums to the Savings Assn. Insurance Fund. In the second quarter, the nation’s savings and loans earned $1.89 billion. Third-quarter thrift earnings were unchanged from the 1995 third quarter, when thrifts also posted $1.6 billion in earnings. Meanwhile, the number of problem institutions fell to 31 from 33 in the second quarter and 49 at the end of the third quarter of 1995, the OTS said.