Citadel Holding’s Profits Drop 44% in 4th Quarter

Citadel Holding Corp., the Glendale parent of Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan, said its fourth-quarter profit tumbled 44% from a year earlier and that earnings for all of 1988 were down 15%.

In the quarter that ended Dec. 31, Citadel’s net income fell to $4.88 million from $8.77 million a year ago. The year-earlier results included a $1.68-million gain from a change in accounting rules.

Citadel blamed the lower earnings on higher interest rates, which increased the cost Citadel had to pay to acquire funds for lending. Citadel’s interest costs for deposits jumped 28% in the quarter to $55.7 million from $43.6 million.

For the full year, Citadel’s profit fell to $24.1 million from $28.2 million. Citadel’s assets as of Dec. 31 totaled $4.64 billion, up 21% from $3.83 billion a year earlier.