Valley banks post losses in third quarter

Southern Nevada's 19 state-chartered commercial banks have one thing in common -- they all lost money in the third quarter, according to statistics compiled by SNL Financial.

Nevada State Bank, the biggest of the bunch, lost $158 million, almost double its loss in the second quarter.

Its nonperforming assets, which include delinquent loans and foreclosed real estate, grew by 0.9 of a percentage point to 9.91 percent of total assets during the quarter. However, the bank is backed by Zions Bancorporation, a large Salt Lake City-based regional holding company. It also has 19.42 percent in risk-based capital, one measure of the bank's net worth.

Bank of Nevada also took a hit, although not as large in relation to its size. The second-quarter net loss soared to $20.35 million from $3.72 million in the second period. It has 12.09 percent in risk-based capital. Nonperforming assets grew to 7.26 percent from 4.41 percent in the second quarter.

SouthwestUSA Bank shows some of the worst numbers, relative to its size. The third-quarter loss ballooned to $8.13 million from $142,000 in the second quarter.

Its nonperforming assets bulged by about 3.5 percentage points to 18.92 percent. In other words, almost one-fifth of total assets are delinquent loans or foreclosed real estate. Its risk-based capital was 6.54 percent.

Sun West Bank lost $12.5 million, about half a million more than it lost in the second quarter.

It has 6.17 percent in risk-based assets while 15.45 percent of its assets are nonperforming.

The banks reported loans declined by 4.64 percent to $7.5 billion during the three months ended Sept. 30. Total deposits at the banks climbed 5.13 percent above the second quarter total to $9.04 billion.

Contact reporter John G. Edwards at jedwards@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0420.