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Local thrifts had a good year of deposit growth.
The 16 biggest savings and loans reported a 10% rise in deposits held by their Orange County branches for the 12 months through June 30, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
Commercial Banks, meanwhile, posted a 20% jump (see related story, page 30).
However, if you subtract results for the thrift behemoth Wash-
ington Mutual Inc. and the biggest commercial bank gainer,subprime lender Fremont Investment and Loan,the overall deposit growth totals are very similar.
Thrifts here had a solid year for many of the same reasons commercial Banks saw their deposits rise,a rebounding economy, consumers’ and businesses’ desire to park their money in the relative safety of savings accounts, and frothy home refinancing activity.
Overall, the thrifts on this year’s list reported OC deposits of $19 billion at June 30, versus $17.3 billion a year earlier. The data is obtained from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the thrifts themselves.
None of the top nine thrifts saw a ranking change this year.
As always, the list is dominated by No. 1 Seattle-based Washington Mutual, the nation’s largest savings and loan.
The thrift posted a 5% gain in deposits to $7.7 billion, versus a year earlier. That gives it about 40% of the OC thrift market. The thrift dwarfs its OC competitors, topping the total deposits of the three below it.
WaMu shed thousands of workers companywide last year as growth in its mortgage refinancing operations slowed and its earnings results suffered. In OC, the thrift reported an 18% decline in workers to 2,934.
The thrift also sold its high-profile, 16-acre Irvine campus to Los Angeles-based Maguire Properties Inc. for about $150 million.
World Savings Bank in Laguna Hills lost some of its grip on the No. 2 spot, with 3% growth in deposits to $3.1 billion in the period. World Savings’ parent, Golden West financial Corp., is based in Oakland.
No. 3 Newport Beach-based Downey Savings
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