By Staff Report Monday, July 30th, 2012

Shares of Community West Bancshares soared 7.7 percent even as the Goleta-based bank reported a $591,000 second-quarter loss.

The parent company of Community West Bank’s latest loss swings away from an $819,000 profit in the first quarter.

Including $268,000 in dividends and accretion on preferred stock, Community West’s second-quarter net loss applicable to common stockholders was $859,000, or 14 cents per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $483,000, or 8 cents per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2011.

The bank said the most recent quarter’s loss includes a $431,000 prepayment penalty for paying off $17 million in Federal Home Loan Bank debt, a move the Goleta-based bank said is part of a “planned streamlining” of its balance sheet.

The bank said in an earnings release it believes is has made significant progress in working on issues it agreed to resolve in orders with banking regulators. It said it shuttered all of its remaining out-of-state Small Business Administration lending operations and sold off a $10.1 million SBA-backed loan portfolio during the first quarter.

“Our efforts have been focused on improving our core banking strategy while orderly reducing the balance sheet and diligently working to improve asset quality,” CEO Martin Plourd said in an earnings release. “This operational plan is aimed at continued stability to the organization by strengthening the balance sheet and returning the Bank to sustainable profitability.”

Plourd took the helm at the bank last year. Community West is one of the few banks based in the regionstill struggling with losses and regulatory issues. The bank agreed to a new order, with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, in April that curbs its ability to pay out dividends, sell stock or incur new debts. That agreement came three months after entering into a three-year order with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that requires it to maintain higher minimum capital levels.

Community West’s total risk-based capital ratio was 13.41 percent and its tier-one leverage ratio was 9.38 percent at June 30. The regulatory agreement requires it to maintain minimum ratios of 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

Community West’s loan portfolio was down $76.2 million to $477.2 million at the end of June, compared to a year earlier. Deposits also declined, from $510.8 million at the end of March to $478.3 million at the end of the most recent quarter. Community West’s assets have dropped by $70.9 million to $572.9 million over the last year.