Intermountain Community Bancorp, the Sandpoint-based parent of Panhandle State Bank and other banking subsidiaries, has reported a net loss for the third quarter, but says loan losses and provisions for them are improving and deposits are growing.

Intermountain reported a third-quarter net loss of $2.7 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with net income of $226,000, or 3 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the bank holding company reported a net loss of $14.6 million, compared with net income of $4.1 million in the same period last year.

In the recent quarter, Intermountain added $3.8 million to its allowance for loan losses, much less than the $18.7 million it set aside in the second quarter. Net charge-offs for the third quarter were $10.4 million, down somewhat from $11.8 million in the second quarter, the company says. The third-quarter write-offs were primarily from residential construction and development loans in southwestern Idaho, it says.

"We are starting to see credit metrics improve this quarter, with total classified loans leveling off, loan delinquencies falling, and nonperforming asset levels moderating from the preceding quarter, as the pace of new nonperforming loans slowed more than those that were resolved or charged down," says Curt Hecker, Intermountain's CEO.

As of Sept. 30, the company's allowance for loan losses totaled 2.46 percent of total loans, compared with 3.31 percent at the end of the second quarter. A year earlier, its allowance for loan losses was 1.67 percent of total loans.

"Although our net charge-offs were still at elevated levels this quarter, the properties contributing to these charges are not new problems," Hecker says. "While we can't be certain about future events, given our current loan portfolio and expectations, we don't anticipate future provision levels like we took in the second quarter of 2009."

Intermountain's total loans stood at about $717 million at the end of the quarter, compared with $780 million a year earlier, reflecting the liquidation of problem loans and lower demand for loans from credit-worthy borrowers, it says.

Total deposits, however, grew to about $839 million as of Sept. 30, up nearly 9 percent from a year earlier. Assets fell less than 1 percent from a year earlier, to $1.06 billion.

Intermountain Community Bancorp operates four banking divisions with a total of 20 locations in three states. Panhandle State Bank serves eight North Idaho communities, while Intermountain Community Bank operates branches in southwest Idaho and Eastern Oregon.

Intermountain Community Bank Washington, which is a unit of Panhandle State Bank, operates branches in downtown Spokane and Spokane Valley. Another Panhandle subsidiary, Magic Valley Bank, has branches in Twin Falls and Gooding, Idaho.