The earnings of Elders Rural Bank may be a little lower in the financial year that ends next week.Management of Futuris Corp said in an Open Briefing published through the ASX yesterday that EBIT generated by Elders Financial Services was "expected to be slightly lower in 2008 as growth targets for the bank become more modest in line with financial market conditions" and also due to lower insurance returns.Futuris, as well as Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, operates Elders Rural Bank as a joint venture.ERB reported a profit of $36 million in the years to June 2007, up 12 per cent on 2006.Bendigo and Adelaide Bank may also find that its lending through one of Futuris' rivals in the niche of running managed investment schemes in forestry is picking up business the latter is losing.Futuris told the ASX that a surge in low doc and no doc lending by rivals (which has to mean Great Southern) is one reason for the disappointing sale of new investment in such schemes.BAB is financier of many of the debt-financed investments by clients of Great Southern through the bank's wholesale arm.