FFCH posts $36.8m loss for FY 2010

First Financial Holdings, the parent of First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Charleston, posted a $36.8 million loss during fiscal year 2010, the company reported Monday.

That compares with a $29.3 million profit the prior year, although nearly all that was the result of a one-time gain related to the acquisition of failed Cape Fear Bank in a deal brokered through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

First Financial saw a sharp increase in its provision for loan losses. For fiscal year 2010, the loan-loss provisions were $125.2 million.

That’s up from $66.9 million the previous year and $16.9 million in fiscal 2008, according to information filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Stock in First Financial is trading at less than $12 a share, off from its 52-week high of $15.70, but up from around $9 a share in late summer.