Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990 TAG: 9007040088
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: MAG POFF BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The move, made by Signet Banking Corp. on Monday and by Dominion Bankshares Corp. in May, put the stocks of Virginia banks on a skid.
Richard Wertz, assistant manager of the Roanoke office of A.G. Edwards, said that "the whole group got pretty well destroyed."
Signet's stock lost 3 3/4 per share Monday while Crestar dropped 1[ and Dominion fell 1 point.
Wertz said Crestar stock was down in early trading Tuesday, but was up an eighth late in the day. Crestar will pay its quarterly dividend to those who held shares Tuesday, which supported the stock price, he said.
Signet recovered by less than a point, but Dominion fell another half to 13.
Crestar's announcement was that it would add $25 million to reserves, reducing its income for the second quarter. The company's quarterly earnings figures will be reported July 16.
Chairman Richard Tilghman said the increased provision followed an internal review of Crestar's loan portfolio with "a particularly hard look" at real estate loans.
He called it a "prudent management decision in light of current weakness in the regional economy in general and, in particular, in regional real estate markets."
Crestar expects its non-performing assets to jump from $97.2 million on March 31 to $120 million June 30.
"It is only realistic to respond to the impact of the declining real estate activity we see today," Tilghman said.
by CNB