Saturday, November 21, 2009 East Central Illinois

First Busey loss for 3rd quarter: $283 million

By Don Dodson
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 4:33 PM CDT

CHAMPAIGN — As forewarned a month ago, First Busey Corp. reported a massive net loss for the third quarter, but indicated the worst may be over.

The parent company of Busey Bank on Tuesday reported a net loss of $283.7 million, or $7.92 per share, for the quarter that ended Sept. 30.

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The loss was primarily due to a $208.2 million goodwill impairment charge, reflecting a reduction in the company’s market value.

Excluding that charge, the net loss was $75.5 million, which was higher than the $62.5 million to $67.5 million projection First Busey made in mid-September.
First Busey Chairman Van Dukeman said the problems were concentrated primarily in the company’s Florida and Indiana markets.

The bank holding company recorded a $140 million provision for loan losses in the third quarter, $15 million higher than initially anticipated.

“We believe our outsized provisioning for loan losses is behind us,” Dukeman stated in the earnings report. “However, we still face challenges managing our existing non-performing loan portfolio.”

Dukeman said the company would continue to make provisions for loan losses, but at rates significantly lower than in the last two quarters.

The bank also announced that on Oct. 30, it will pay a dividend of 4 cents per common share, down from the 8-cent-per-share dividend it had paid the last two quarters.

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