SaviBank [1], a $388 million-asset bank headquartered in Burlington, Washington, has announced the formation of a mortgage lending division.
“Lending policies and marketing strategies have been developed specifically for this segment. With a methodical, long-term approach, we believe we will be successful in growing a meaningful mortgage lending division for the bank,” said Michal D. Cann, Chairman of SaviBank.
The bank named Drew Wilkens as SVP and Mortgage Department Manager for the new division. Wilkens was previously EVP at Bank of the Pacific and is scheduled to graduate with his Master’s in Business Administration from Western Washington University later this year.
“After exploring opportunities to enter the mortgage lending market, we are excited to announce that we have brought in a team of seasoned, qualified bankers to establish a mortgage lending division,” added Cann. “Wilkens is a proven leader, critical thinker and strategic planner, and has over 17 years of banking and mortgage experience in the Pacific Northwest.”
"I am extremely pleased to join such an exciting, growing bank,” said Wilkens. “With our team of talented mortgage lending professionals, and their knowledge of the Pacific Northwest, we are confident we can produce strong results and increase the bank’s future earning power.”
SaviBank launched April 11, 2005, and has nine branch locations in and around Washington’s Skagit, Island, and Whatcom counties. The new mortgage division will be a new revenue stream for when the bank’s holding company, Savi Financial Corp., which is undergoing financial challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic.
For the third quarter 2020, the company reported $236,000 in earnings, compared to $353,000 in the third quarter of 2019. For the first nine months of 2020, Savi reported net income of $860,000, down from $1.26 million in the same period one year earlier.
While Cann noted the company’s total revenue increased by 13% to $3.61 million in the third quarter, he added that Savi “recorded a higher provision for loan losses during the third quarter based on the impact of the pandemic on our Northwest Washington markets. As a result, we added $869,000 to our loan loss reserves over the last three quarters, bringing our allowance to loan losses, excluding SBA guaranteed Paycheck Protection Program loans, to 1.24% as a percentage of total loans.”