Bank of Nevada parent’s profit streak now at two

Western Alliance Bancorporation, the holding company of Bank of Nevada, posted its second straight quarterly profit, led by modest gains in both loans and deposits.

Western Alliance on Monday reported second-quarter profits of $6.2 million, or 5 cents a share. That compares to a profit of $1.2 million and a per-share loss of 2 cents a year earlier.

"We have continued improvement on all fronts, including asset and revenue growth, expense control and asset quality," said Robert Sarver, chairman and chief executive officer of Western Alliance. "I am especially pleased that Bank of Nevada, arguably our toughest market, is now notably contributing to the company's overall profitability."

Bank of Nevada reported income of $3.72 million for the second quarter, compared with $900,000 in the first quarter and a loss of $10.7 million for the second quarter of 2010.

For the first six months of 2011 net income was $4.61 million, compared to a loss of $13.7 million for the same period last year.

During the second quarter, loans generated by Bank of Nevada declined by $17 million. Over the 12 months, loans have declined $118 million to $1.85 billion as of June. 30.

Deposits increased $59 million in the second quarter, to $2.45 billion.

The bank operates 12 branches in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Mesquite.

Western Alliance is also the parent company of Western Alliance Bank, Torrey Pines Bank and Shine investment Advisory Services.

"The substantial decrease in the number of community banks has made us the preferred local lender, and resulted in the strong loan and deposit market share gains we have today," said Ken Vecchione, president and chief operating officer of the Phoenix-based company.

Second-quarter revenue at Western Alliance rose to $70.1 million, up 9.5 percent from $64 million for the same period in 2010. The bank's second-quarter profit included an $8.6 million charge from the sale of repossessed assets.

Total loans were $4.41 billion at the end of the second quarter, a $282 million increase from the same period a year ago. The increase was driven by growth in commercial and industrial loans and commercial real estate loans, primarily in California and Arizona .

The bank also grew its deposit base to $5.59 billion, up $358 million from the same period a year ago. Western Alliance's provision for credit losses was $11.9 million for the second quarter, up from $10 million for the first quarter as a result of increased loan activity of $134 million in the quarter ended June 30.