2 S&Ls; Post Big Gains, Record Loan Volume Cited

Columbia Savings & Loan Assn. and the parent company of Santa Barbara Savings & Loan Assn. both reported sharply higher earnings.

Columbia Savings, headquartered in Beverly Hills, said it earned $194 million last year, including $24.8 million in the fourth quarter. That represented a 58% increase over year-earlier earnings of $122 million and a 36% increase over the $18.2 million earned in the final quarter of 1985.

Thomas Spiegel, Columbia chief executive, said the record results were due in part to a record loan volume of $1.4 billion last year. He noted that the savings and loan, with assets of $10.2 billion, has shareholders equity of $500 million.

Meanwhile, Financial Corp. of Santa Barbara said it earned $19.1 million in 1986, more than four times the $4.2 million earned in 1985. Fourth-quarter profit totaled $5.6 million, compared to $1.3 million in the final quarter of 1985.

The results represent a sharp turnaround for Financial Corp. of Santa Barbara, which was battered by heavy losses in the early and mid-1980s and had nearly exhausted its stockholders equity at one point in 1984.