First Place upbeat, despite quarterly loss

warren

First Place Financial Corp. posted a loss of $11.9 million for the quarter ending June 30, the company said in a statement released after the markets closed Thursday.

The bank’s earnings improved from a net loss of $12.7 million in the same quarter last year, however.

Last quarter’s earnings were also up $1.1 million from the previous quarter, an improvement due largely to a decrease in provision for loan losses.

In spite of the loss, First Place saw an overall decrease in nonperforming loans and assets compared with previous quarters. Delinquent loans and charge-offs remained high but improved from the previous quarter.

A charge-off is the declaration by a creditor that an amount of debt is unlikely to be collected.

“In April we indicated that we were going to continue to aggressively pursue the resolution of problem assets,” company president Steven Lewis said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the improvement we experienced in most of our credit metrics.”

The company also announced that it has filed to withdraw its registration to sell $80 million of additional common stock because of “unfavorable market conditions.” The bank filed the registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in June.

The Warren-based bank has 43 retail sites and 21 lending centers throughout Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Maryland.