Deposits at the county’s largest local thrifts outdid their commercial bank counterparts during the past year.
The 15 largest savings and loans in Orange County posted a 14% gain in local deposits to $19.8 billion for the 12 months through June 30, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
Last year’s thrifts recorded a 9% rise in local deposits.
Thrifts blew OC’s commercial banks out of the water. That group saw deposit growth slow to 3% for the same period, down from 12% a year ago.
They benefited from the strong local economy and low unemployment rate. Increased demand for commercial lending and real estate loans gave the industry a boost, too.
Depositors moved around their money, chasing the best rates of return, which pitted commercial banks into fierce competition.
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Local savings and loans banks performed much better than the state, which recorded an 18% decline in deposits to $195.7 billion for the 12 months through June 30, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Thrifts nationwide posted 9.3% deposit growth, according to the FDIC.
Eight thrifts on the list reported a gain in deposits during the period, with four declining and one flat.
Two thrifts were new and 2005 OC figures were not available.
Ranking of the local thrifts saw a bit of a shake-up: the former No. 6 Western Financial Bank dropped from the list after it was bought by Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp. as part of its $4 billion deal for Irvine-based Westcorp Inc. and WFS Financial.
The top four continued to hold their spots.
No. 1 Washington Mutual Inc. led the rankings with $9.3 billion in local deposits.
Seattle-based WaMu saw a boost from its $1 billion buy of Irvine-based Commercial Capital Bancorp in October. The deal gave WaMu a 22% increase in local deposits from a year ago, and bumps Commercial Capital off the list for good.
WaMu commands the most market share. It holds about 47% of all OC thrift deposits,up from 38% a year ago. It’s also among the top employers, with 2,815 local workers.
WaMu grew local branches 12% to 64,mostly from adding in Commercial Capital branches. WaMu has earlier said it plans to add some 200 branches nationwide.
In November, WaMu wrapped up a loose end from its buy of Commercial Capital. The thrift agreed to pay Comerica Inc. $47 million to settle a lawsuit against Commercial Capital.
WaMu said it settled the suit as “a business matter” without admitting wrongdoing.
The settlement stems from Commercial Capital’s hiring of two dozen bankers from Comerica’s El Segundo office in 2005.
WaMu has long dominated the top spot because it has almost triple the amount of deposits of No. 2 World Savings Bank.
World Savings’ former parent company, Oakland-based Golden West Financial Corp., was bought by Wachovia Corp. for $25 billion in October.
World Savings saw a 3% rise in local deposits to $3.7 billion.
No. 3 Downey Savings and Loan Association, owned by Newport Beach-based Downey Financial Corp., saw its deposits stay flat at $2.8 billion.
Downey saw a bit of bump in 2006. Net income for the year dropped 5.6% to $205.2 million.
The slowdown in the housing market contributed “to a drop in loan production and a need to increase our allowance for credit losses,” Chief Executive Daniel Rosenthal said in a statement.
The company saw a $76.3 million decline in gains on loans and other securities sold in 2006, mostly due to a lower number of loans sold, and a lower gain per dollar on loans sold.
No. 4 Citibank saw deposits grow 8% to $2.3 billion.
The loss of Commercial Capital bumped Fullerton Community Bank into the top five. Fullerton Community Bank, owned by Fullerton-based RMG Capital Corp., saw deposits jump 19% to $466 million.
Newcomers
Newcomers to the list were No. 6 IndyMac Bank, No. 14 Irwin Union Bank and No. 15 Home Savings of America.
IndyMac, owned by Pasadena-based IndyMac Bancorp Inc., saw deposits total $357 million this year.
Without IndyMac, local deposits would have grown about 12% for the 12 months through June 30.
Indiana-based Irwin Financial Corp., the parent company of Irwin Union Bank, opened an independent bank unit in Costa Mesa in late 2005.
Its focus is on lending and cash management services for OC’s business community, along with wealth management services. Irwin Union Bank saw local deposits grow 2,081% to $13.4 million.
Home Savings of America, with a branch in Laguna Woods and a loan office in El Segundo, caters to seniors. Its local deposits came in at $12.6 million.
Branches, Employment
Thrifts grew their branches and worker counts.
The number of local branches added here was up 11%, or 17 new branches, to 178.
WaMu added the most due to its Commercial Capital acquisition,seven branches in OC for a total of 64. Citibank added three for a total of 34 branches.
Only one, Fullerton Community Bank, saw a decline in local branches. The thrift saw three close for a total of eight here.
Employment at the 15 thrifts grew 4% to 6,666 jobs, versus a year ago.
No. 8 Pacific Premier Bank led the workforce gain on a 19% increase to 106 local employees.
The other big gainer in employment was Downey Savings and Loan, which saw a 17% jump to 1,458 jobs.
The majority,10 thrifts,saw worker counts stay flat.
Decliners
No. 10 Beal Bank and No. 12 First Federal Bank of California saw the biggest declines in local deposits.
Privately held Beal Bank’s Newport Beach branch recorded a 22% drop in deposits to $95.7 million. It was one of the biggest gainers on last year’s list with a 241% rise to $122 million a year ago.
Beal’s local branch is among a small network operated by Plano, Texas-based Beal Financial Corp. It has two other branches in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Beal got into OC in 2003 when it bought ailing Southern Pacific Bank in Torrance, which was closed by regulators after big losses.
First Federal Bank of California saw local deposits fall 17% to $47.8 million.
