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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 13, 1993                   TAG: 9301130079
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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FIRST UNION EARNINGS RISE 70% DOMINION MERGER HASN'T HURT PROFITS

First Union Corp. on Tuesday reported a 70 percent increase in earnings last year, despite a $36 million restructuring charge related to its proposed acquisition of Roanoke's Dominion Bank.

First Union said it had record earnings in 1992 of $484.6 million, or $3.72 a share, compared to $285.5 million, or $2.55 a share, in 1991.

Despite expenses related to the merger with Dominion, First Union's fourth-quarter income rose 64 percent. The bank earned $128 million, or 95 cents a share, in those three months compared to the prior year's $78 million, or 66 cents a share.

Chairman Edward E. Crutchfield Jr. said several factors accounted for the record figures.

First Union benefited from a decline in the interest rate on deposits vs. what it earned on loans, a spread that averaged 4.98 percent compared with 4.27 percent in 1991. The provision of losses on bad loans fell as credit quality improved. Non-performing assets fell to $966 million from $1.2 billion a year earlier. The loan-loss provision dropped from $482 million to $250 million.

First Union also profited from growth in fee income, especially for servicing mortgages.

Net loans at year end totaled $33.4 billion, up from $32.1 billion the prior year. Deposits rose from $36.6 billion to $39.4 billion.

Assets were $51.3 billion against $46.1 billion a year earlier. When several pending mergers are final in the first half of this year, the bank will have assets of $66 billion.

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