CoBiz posts $16M Q2 loss, begins stock sale - Washington Business Journal:

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million, or 72 centss per share, in the second quarter, as the weak economyt continued to exact a toll on the officialssaid Monday. The loss compares with a profigof $4.2 million, or 18 cente per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Denver-bases CoBiz (NASDAQ: COBZ) owns and Arizona Businesxs Bank. The latest quarter’s results include a $35.1 million pre-tax provisioj for loan and credit or 150 percent ofnet charge-offs which were $23.4 million — for the period. “W continue to take a conservative posture in our provisioninfg forloan losses,” Chairman and CEO Steve Bangert said in a statement.
“Our seconr quarter provision brings our allowancw to loan ratio tonearly 3.9 percent, one of the strongesy in the industry. While I remain confident in oursenior management’s ability to effectively respond to the current credift obstacles, we felt it was prudent to continue buildingt the allowance given the uncertainty in the economy.” Nonperformintg assets ended the quarter at $93.99 million, or 3.7 percent of total up from $52.5 million or 2 percent of total assets on Marc 31. Separately on Monday, CoBisz said it had begun a sale ofabout $45 milliob of its common stock.
It will use the proceeds for generacorporate purposes, including supporting the capita needs of its bank expanding operations, possible acquisitions and workinfg capital needs. Last week, CoBiz announcedr it had hired Colorado and Arizonqamarket presidents, , to oversee banking operationz in each market. “We remain focused on building our franchises during these challenging times and want to ensurwe we are positioned to take advantage of unique market opportunities that we expecy willpresent themselves,” Bangert “To that end, we recentluy announced the hiring of Colorado and Arizona marke presidents who will oversee all bankinh operations in their respective markets, providew direction for future growty and free up some of our existing resources to focuw on high quality business development opportunities.
We will also continuse to dedicate appropriate resources througy our Special Assets Group to address resolutionb ofproblem loans.”