Thrifts continue trend of profitability

The nation's savings and loans continued their comeback from the recession, reporting their best profit in three years Monday. 

U.S. thrifts posted a $1.82 billion profit in the first three months of the year, up from $442 million in the last quarter of 2009 and a dramatic change from a $1.62 billion loss a year ago, the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) reported Monday. 

After experiencing nearly $16 billion in losses in 2008 as the housing market collapsed and unemployment rose, the industry has gradually shown improvement, recording its third straight quarter of profits. 

"The health of the thrift industry is improving but we cannot say the industry has fully recovered from the financial crisis," said John Bowman, acting director of OTS, in a statement. "Until America gets back to full employment and more families are able to pay their monthly mortgages on time, the thrift industry will continue to face significant challenges."

While 60 thrifts posted increased revenue, OTS listed 50 on its list of problem lenders, up from 43 in the fourth quarter. 

Today's news follows an announcement last week that financial institutions had an $18 billion profit in the first quarter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said last week.  

Thrifts were particularly hard-hit during the recession because federal rules require them to hold 65 percent of their assets in mortgages and consumer loans. 

So far this year, 73 banks have failed. The failures could eclipse the 140 that collapsed in 2009, making it the most since 1992, the peak of the savings and loan crisis.