Pacific Capital Bancorp, the holding company that owns Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, announced Thursday that the company’s net loss for the second quarter of 2009 totaled $362.6 million, or $7.77 per share.

Last year in the same period, the company’s net loss was $5.9 million, or $0.13 per common share.

The company’s reports attribute the losses to allowances for loan losses of $194.1 million, a $128.7 million noncash charge because of “an impairment of goodwill” and tax expenses of $25.6 million.

George Leis, CEO and president of Pacific Capital Bancorp, said in a statement that company management was encouraged by an increase in net interest margin, but that the bank had increased its allowance for loan losses, citing the weakness in California’s housing market and economy.

“As a result of this build in reserves, our allowance for loan losses increased to 4.57 percent of total loans and 80 percent of total nonperforming loans in the core bank at June 30, 2009,” he said. “While the increase in allowance for loan losses had a negative impact on our second-quarter results, we believe the higher level of allowance will benefit the company going forward as we continue to manage through the credit cycle.”

It’s been an eventful year for the company. In June, Pacific Capital announced it would suspend dividend payments to shareholders, and its credit rating was lowered to junk bond status.

The company also has been checking in with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which is regulating the company’s leverage and capital ratios. The company’s board of directors submitted a three-year strategic plan to the OCC in which it set a goal to sell $150 million of its secured real estate loans by the end of 2009. Also part of the plan is expense reductions of $45 million to $55 million in annual costs.

“We regularly discuss with the OCC our continuing efforts and progress in achieving the higher capital requirements,” Leis said. “The plan reflects the current challenges with respect to capital and the difficulties in projecting the impact of the economic weakness in our markets on our loan portfolio, as well as the strategies we are employing to maintain the financial strength of the bank.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at lcooper@noozhawk.com.