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ATB Financial reported a huge drop in second-quarter profits yesterday after announcing a write-down on asset-backed commercial paper.

The Crown corporation said it would take a $79.6-million charge for potential losses and restructuring costs on the short-term corporate loans, sending its second-quarter profit down 91% to $8.5 million.

The privately held company, once called Alberta Treasury Branches, said the special provision, related to the ongoing credit crunch, reduced operating revenue about 26% from a year earlier to $137.6 million.

ATB "continues to have an excellent year and, from an operating perspective, had one of our strongest second quarters on record," said CEO Dave Mowat.

"Although we remain optimistic that a restructuring of these investments will be successful, we cannot be completely certain of the final outcome."

The Skeena trust, the first to be restructured and representing $91 million of ATB's holdings, has been done at par, "however, there is still uncertainty on the process for the remaining trusts," Mowat said.

On the bright side, ATB's investor services attained $4 billion in assets under administration and management during the quarter.

Personal and business financial services also experienced strong loan growth of $516.6 million, and corporate financial services attained favourable deposit growth of $72.5 million.

"It is a testament to the work of ATB associates that we can absorb a $79.6-million provision and still record positive earnings," said Mowat.

As announced in August, ATB held $1.2 billion of third-party, or non-bank, asset backed commercial paper in its corporate investment portfolio.

ATB Financial has assets of $22.5 billion and serves more than 600,000 Albertans.

It serves 244 communities through 157 branches and 134 agencies.

Bernard B. Kerik fully repaid a $250,000 personal loan cited in his recent federal indictment days after city investigators began asking about it in 2005, according to people who have been briefed on the transaction.

Federal prosecutors have not alleged that anything about the loan itself was improper. But they charged in a 16-count indictment unsealed two weeks ago that Mr. Kerik had failed to disclose it to the federal government as required after the White House appointed him to train the Iraqi police in 2003.

The loan allegation was one of the few surprises in the indictment, which charged Mr. Kerik with tax evasion and fraud largely in connection with previously known financial transactions. In filing the charges, prosecutors with United States attorney’s office declined to identify a “wealthy Israeli industrialist” said to have financed the loan or to name the “Brooklyn businessman” said to have served as an intermediary in the transaction, referring to them only as John Doe No. 7 and John Doe No. 8.

Rainy River Community College in International Falls is dropping its football program because many of the players are contributing to the school having the highest federal loan default rate in the nation.

Here is a look at the default rate among the state's community college that have football teams.

(The default rate for all Minnesota colleges is 3 percent.)

Source: U.S. Department of Education