Alaska Air in elite cadre of money-makers

Improvements it has made in on-time performance and being insulated from the slump in international travel helped Alaska Air Group post a profit for the third quarter.

The Seattle-based operator of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air said Thursday it recorded an $87.6 million third-quarter profit, comparedwith a net loss of $86.5 million a year ago.

Revenue fell 9 percent to $967 million from $1.1 billion a year ago.

Alaska Air is among a small group of airlines that have profits for the third quarter.

The company said passenger revenue at its two airlines totaled $885 million in the quarter, down 7 percent. Freight and mail revenue dropped 9 percent to $27.7 million.

For the first nine months of this year, Alaska Air's profits totaled $97.5 million, compared with a $60.7 million loss during the same months last year. Revenue was $2.6 billion, down 10 percent.

Northrim Bancorp reports increased profits

Northrim Bancorp reported third-quarter profits of $2.1 million, up 24 percent from the same three months of last year.

The Anchorage-based banking company said main reasons for the profit growth were improvements in the gap between interest earned on loans and investments vs. interest paid on deposits and borrowings, less set aside to protect against bad loans, and larger contributions from affiliated businesses.

At the end of the quarter, Northrim assets totaled $986 million, down 2 percent from one year earlier. Its main asset -- its loan portfolio -- totaled $674 million, down 4 percent. Deposits were $837 million on Sept. 30, down 2 percent from a year earlier.

For the first nine months, Northrim's profits totaled $6.1 million, up 12 percent. Northrim owns Northrim Bank. Its affiliated companies include Residential Mortgage, Elliott Cove Capital Management, Northrim Benefits Group and Pacific Wealth Advisors.

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