Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. reported a loss of $3.8 million, or 23 cents per share, for the fourth quarter on increasing provisions for potential losses, the bank said last week. The loss compares to a profit of $8.4 million, or 51 cents per share, during the same quarter last year. For 2008, the bank’s profits fell 51 percent to $15.78 million.
“While our non-performing assets increased from the third quarter, we continue to believe that our conservative loan underwriting standards and our comprehensive methodology for risk-rating our loans will serve us well for the long term as we manage through this tough economic cycle,” bank Chief Executive Officer Daniel Schrider said in a statement.
