SIGNET BANK REVERSES RED INK OF '91

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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993                   TAG: 9301210136
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
SIGNET BANK REVERSES RED INK OF '91
Signet Banking Corp. reported Wednesday it earned $109.2 million, or $3.92 a share, last year. That follows a year in which the Richmond-based company had a loss of $25.7 million, equal to 95 cents a share.
For 1992's fourth quarter, Signet gained $31.8 million, or $1.13 a share, against the 1991 loss of $51.7 million, or $1.91 a share.
Chairman Robert M. Freeman said Signet reduced non-performing assets, those that do not produce income for the bank, $151 million, or 46 percent, from year-end 1991. Its real estate exposure was cut $452 million, exceeding the goal of $400 million.
Freeman attributed the earnings to better interest margins and expense control, too.
Signet's total deposits declined $657 million, or 8 percent, from the end of 1991. Loans of $5.8 billion declined only slightly.
Signet had total assets of $12.1 billion on Dec. 31, up 8 percent from a year earlier.
Uni-Marts
Uni-Marts Inc., State College, Pa.-based operator of convenience stores, reported first-quarter net earnings of $1.041 million, 16 percent above last year's first quarter. Share earnings were 15 cents, up from 13 cents. Revenues were $86 million, up 19.8 percent from a year ago.
AMR Corp.
AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, said Wednesday it lost $935 million in 1992, nearly four times more than the $240 million it lost in 1991, previously its worst year in history.
Included in the loss were one-time accounting charges and changes totaling $688 million. Without the charges, AMR still would have posted a record net loss of $278 million.
General Electric
General Electric Co. of Fairfield, Conn., whose Industrial Systems and Services division and Drive Systems headquarters are in Salem, on Wednesday reported 1992 earnings of $4.725 billion, or $5.51 a share, up 7 percent from $4.435 billion, or $5.10 per share, in 1991. Revenues were $62.2 billion, up 3 percent from $60.2 billion.
For the fourth quarter, revenues increased to $17.8 billion, compared with last year's $17.6 billion. Earnings per share for the quarter were $1.57, up 8 percent from $1.46 for the 1991 quarter. Earnings were $1.341 billion, up 6 percent from $1.263 billion in the 1991 quarter.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB