GRAND ISLAND, Neb., March 15, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Equitable Financial Corp. (OTCBB:EQFC), the holding company for Equitable Bank, announced today that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of an $8.3 million portfolio of one- to four-family mortgage loans. The final amount of the sale is subject to change prior to closing, pursuant to the terms of the agreement. The loans included in the transaction, all of which are conventional long-term fixed-rate loans, will be sold with servicing retained. The loans will be sold at a discount to the unpaid loan balances with settlement to be within 30 days. Equitable Financial expects to incur a pre-tax loss of approximately $201,000, or an after-tax loss of approximately $133,000, in connection with the loan sale.
The pool of 94 loans has a weighted average maturity of 175 months and a gross weighted average interest rate of 5.44%.
Richard L. Harbaugh, President and Chief Executive Officer of Equitable Financial, said "The sale of these longer term, lower coupon loans will improve our interest rate risk position. We believe that this restructuring is the right decision for the long-term profitability of Equitable Financial and our effort to create value for our stockholders."
Equitable Financial Corp. is the holding company for Equitable Bank and is headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska. Equitable Bank operates five offices in Grand Island, Omaha and North Platte, Nebraska.