Bank to report loss on sour Indianapolis loans

Indiana Community Bancorp expects to report a $5.8 million loss in the third quarter largely due to several bad commercial loans in the Indianapolis area.

The Columbus-based parent of Indiana Bank & Trust said on Wednesday that it is writing off $13.3 million for the period ending Sept. 30, primarily due to nine commercial customers in the area with total loan balances of $32.7 million.

Indiana Bank & Trust has 20 branches in Indiana, including six in Columbus and three in Greenwood.

Of the nine commercial customers, three are real estate investment firms that accounted for $18.5 million of the loan balance and $8.1 million of the write-offs, the bank said.

Its provision for loan losses in the quarter grew $737,000, to $14.8 million. As a result, Indiana Bank & Trust expects to report a $5.8 million loss, or $1.80 per share.

The bank, however, said it has noticed an uptick in commercial real estate activity in the Indianapolis market and is pursuing several letters of intent and purchase agreements to pay down non-performing loans.

Indiana Bank & Trust is set to report third-quarter earnings on Oct. 25.