Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 21, 1994                   TAG: 9404210216
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

REPORTED EARNINGS

Virginia First Financial Corp., Petersburg-based thrift operating branches in Western Virginia, on Wednesday reported a 20 percent increase in earnings.

The thrift said it had income of $1.58 million for the third quarter of its fiscal year ended March 31, compared with $1.3 million for the same period last year. The per-share increase was up from 47 cents to 56 cents.

For the first nine months, earnings were $5.1 million, or $1.84 per share, up 36 percent from $3.78 million, or $1.38 per share.

Chairman William Patton said the company will pay a quarterly dividend of 2.5 cents per share May 13 to stockholders on April 29.

Interest income was up, Patton said. Virginia First originated $608.7 million in residential mortgage loans in the first nine months of the fiscal year, nearly 16 percent higher than the $525.2 million produced in the 1993 period. It sold mortgage loans worth $593.2 million to the secondary market.

The thrift also sold servicing rights to $51.4 million in home loans for a pretax gain of $623,000 in the quarter. The company had assets of $577.99 million on March 31.

Piedmont BankGroup

Piedmont BankGroup Inc., based in Martinsville, has reported a 1.9 percent increase in income for the first quarter. The bank holding company said it had earnings of $1.9 million, or 51 cents a share, compared with last year's first-quarter report of $1.86 million, or 50 cents a share.

Loans increased $17 million to $454 million outstanding at the end of this year's quarter. Deposits increased $14 million since year-end 1993 and $41 million since the end of the 1993 first quarter. Shareholder equity exceeded $56 million.

ITT Corp.

ITT Corp., New York operator of a night-vision products plant and a gallium arsenide technology center in Roanoke County, said Wednesday its first-quarter earnings were significantly higher than the 1993 period. Net income was $219 million, or $1.67 per share, up 28 percent from $175 million, or $1.30, in the 1993 quarter. The improvement came on sales and revenues of $5.5 billion, up 7 percent from $5.2 billion in the 1993 quarter

Georgia-Pacific

Georgia-Pacific Corp., Atlanta-based forest-products company with operations in Bedford County and a distribution center in Roanoke, on Wednesday reported net income of $40 million, or 45 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared with $41 million, or 47 cents, for the first quarter of 1993.

The 1994 first-quarter earnings include a $34 million (38 cents per share) net after-tax gain primarily due to the sale of the company's envelope and roofing manufacturing businesses, an $11 million (12 cents per share) after-tax loss on the early retirement of debt and a $5 million (6 cents per share) one-time, after-tax charge for an accounting change.

Sales for the quarter were $2.96 billion, compared with $2.94 billion.

Chesapeake Corp.

Chesapeake Corp., Richmond-based forest-products company with operations of its Chesapeake Packaging Co. division in Roanoke, on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings of $2.7 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a loss of $.8 million, or 3 cents a share, in the 1993 quarter. Sales were up 1 percent, to $212 million from $209.3 million in the 1993 quarter.

Bell Atlantic Corp.

Bell Atlantic Corp. on Wednesday reported an 18 percent increase in first-quarter profits, citing strong demand for cellular phones and continued improvement in the economy.

Earnings were $389.2 million, compared with $329.2 million in the 1993 period. Both figures included extraordinary charges for accounting changes and retirement of debt.

Total operating revenues increased 6.6 percent to $3.37 billion. First-quarter earnings were 89 cents per share, up 13 percent.

Spokeswoman Cynthia Ciangio said a key to the increase was a 52 percent jump in service and sales to people getting portable phones and pagers. Revenue for wireless services increased 42.3 percent as the company's subscription base grew to more than 1.1 million since last year.