Ailing Huntington S&L; Again Put Up for Sale

Huntington Savings and Loan Assn., staggering from investment losses, is once again up for sale, officials said Tuesday.

The troubled Huntington Beach savings and loan has been negotiating during the past several months with “three to four” parties who have expressed interest in buying the two-office association, said Huntington Chairman Robert C. Terry, who declined to identify the potential buyers.

President Resigns

Huntington also announced the resignation of its president, James Marks. Marks joined the savings and loan just five months ago after its founder, Mark L. Wright, left the S&L; last year. Marks left last month to become chief financial officer of Independence Savings and Loan Assn. in the Northern California city of Vallejo. Terry will serve as acting president.

The negotiations to sell Huntington follows two aborted sale attempts in as many years. “The savings and loan has been up for sale since the first time we were approached by Mascot Industries Ltd. of Australia” in 1983, Terry said. Talks with Mascot and with Continental Pacific Enterprise of Anaheim last year came to naught.

Terry said that of the three options the S&L; is considering--finding a merger partner, selling preferred stock or being acquired--the board prefers the latter.

“If Huntington is going to grow, it needs substantial new capital. . . . This is the simplest way.”

Huntington opened in July, 1981, with $2 million in capital. Its growth was rapid and it prospered--until last June, when it reported a loss of $600,000.

In an effort to recoup the loss, Huntington began aggressively trading futures contracts, only to suffer additional losses of about $3.2 million. Terry said the losses will be spread out over the next several years and will not be entirely written off until 1995.

Closed Branch in April

Huntington, which closed its Fountain Valley branch in April, reported a net loss of $288,187 for the fiscal nine-month period ended March 31, compared with net income of $228,928 a year earlier.

Assets declined to $109.7 million as of March 31 from $117.5 million a year earlier. Deposits rose, however, to $77.2 million from $57.7 million. According to its latest figures, the S&L;’s net worth, roughly equivalent to shareholders’ equity, dropped to $1.3 million from $1.6 million a year ago.