Ag Lender’s 1997 Earnings Dip Slightly, Remain Strong

The Northwest’s leading agriculture lender announced Wednesday that it had another year with near-record annual profits.

Even though at $52.8 million in 1997 Northwest Farm Credit Services’ earnings were down from $57.7 million in 1996, the Spokane-based lender outperformed its 1997 business plan.

“Despite declines in market prices for key commodities such as potatoes, wheat and dairy, we added new high-quality accounts and earned more than expected from accounts that had previously experienced problems,” President and Chief Executive Officer Jay Penick said in a press release.

While at $128.6 million for 1997, the agency’s net and noninterest income was higher than the $126.6 million total in 1996, actual income dropped because of one-time expenses incurred in moving the Ag America, Farm Credit Bank (the association’s wholesale funding bank) to California.

The agency expects earnings over the next five years to average $42 million. The estimate is lower than this year’s and last year’s earnings, which were due largely to recoveries from loans that had problems during the farm crisis in the 1980s, the agency said.

The agency’s capital base has improved to $329.4 million in 1997 from $301.1 million in 1996.

Farm Credit Services is a nationwide financial cooperative that provides financing and related services to farmers, ranchers, agricultural business, timber producers and rural homeowners in Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska.

, DataTimes