Company president Kermit Houser says the publicly traded bank holding company is not only adding branches, but also boosting commercial lending abilities significantly. "These new branches support our previously announced strategic goals of becoming a stronger commercial bank, giving us a loan portfolio that includes 65% commercial, commercial real estate and industrial loans," says Houser. "I also am very happy with our ability to close an acquisition of this size in such a short period of time. With the quick regulatory approval we received at the beginning of August and the diligence of employees on both sides of the transaction, we closed the deal in just over 90 days."

Klamath First Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company for Klamath First, which operates 50 offices in 26 counties throughout Oregon and one office in South Central Washington. Klamath First announced its intent to purchase 13 branch offices from Washington Mutual on May 29, 2001. The 12 Western Bank branches have a commercial bank mix of deposits and loans. The single Washington Mutual branch includes deposits and no loans.

On July 24, 2001, Klamath First reported net income for its third fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2001, increased 14% to $2.1 million or 31 cents per diluted share, compared to $1.9 million in the third fiscal quarter last year. Total assets reached $1.0 billion at June 30, 2001, while stockholders' equity grew to $113.9 million. Klamath's loan portfolio was $518.7 million at June 30, 2001 and deposits were $710.6 million at June 30, 2001.