The Fort Lauderdale-based bank holding company said the widened loss was driven primarily by a bigger loan-loss provision at both the parent company and its BankAtlantic unit.
Commercial real estate, consumer and residential real estate loan portfolios were the prime reasons for setting aside additional funds to cushion against losses.
In a statement, the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Alan B. Levan, said BankAtlantic raised $76 million in capital from existing shareholders during the third quarter through a stock rights offering. Of that, the parent plowed $75 million into its bank unit to fortify its capital levels. "As a result, BankAtlantic's regulatory capital ratios are at their highest levels in the last decade," Levan said.
Tier 1 risk-based capital, a measure of financial strength, was 11.6 percent -- far above the 6-percent benchmark that regulators consider "well capitalized."
The bank has been reducing its borrowings at it strengthens its balance sheet.
It charged off $43.1 million in bad debts in the third quarter and set aside $52.2 million in loan loss provision, increasing its allowance for loan losses to $166 million.
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