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Activist investor Joseph Stilwell has stepped up his campaign to oust the chief executive at First Financial Northwest (FFNW) in Renton, Wash.
June 8 -
Recent proxy battles show that the high-stakes clashes are getting pricey for management teams and irate shareholders.
June 4 -
First Financial Northwest in Renton, Wash., and Stilwell Partners are both claiming victory following last week's annual meeting. A representative for the activist shareholder has threatened a legal challenge if its nominee isn't added to the board.
May 29
First Financial Northwest in Renton, Wash., has spent more than $600,000 in its ongoing fight with an activist investor.
First Financial (FFNW) had indicated earlier this year that it would cost at least six figures to fight Stilwell Group, but
The lawsuit remains unresolved. Stilwell Group has in the past indicated that it would like First Financial to sell to improve shareholder returns.
The company relied on other expense cuts to boost the bottom line. First Financial's quarterly results more than doubled those of the first quarter and rose 9% from a year earlier, to $1.4 million.
"I am pleased to report that our second quarter was our seventh consecutive quarter of profitability … despite the additional $604,000 of expenses associated with our recent proxy contest and related litigation," Karpiak said in a press release.
The $999 million-asset company's loan-loss provision fell 62% from the first quarter and 59% from a year earlier, to $650,000, and the company received a tax benefit after lowering its allowance for its deferred-tax asset valuation by $1 million.
Nonperforming assets fell 8% from the first quarter and 30% from a year earlier, to $44.8 million at June 30. Karpiak said a pick-up in housing prices and sales volumes in the company's primary market of King County over the last year helped reduce nonperforming loans and boost profits.
The company's loan book shrunk nearly 8% from the end of last year, to $667 million. Management said the decline was because of soft loan demand, more loan pay downs and increased chargeoffs. The shrinking balance sheet, coupled with lower yields, caused its net interest margin to contract by four basis points from the first quarter, to 3.03%.
First Financial remains well-capitalized, and it managed to raise its book value to $9.79 a share at June 30 compared to $9.71 at March 31.
