Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, July 26, 1994                 TAG: 9407260349
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: By TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   47 lines

CENIT BANCORP EARNINGS UP 5%

   CENIT Bancorp Inc. reported a 5 percent increase in second-quarter net 
income, citing a larger contribution from its commercial mortgage brokerage 
subsidiary and a smaller provision for loan losses.
   The Norfolk thrift holding company's April 1 merger with Homestead Savings 
Bank in Portsmouth also contributed to the earnings increase.
   CENIT declared a quarterly dividend of 9 cents per common share, payable 
Aug. 19 to shareholders of record Aug. 2.
   For the three months ended June 30, CENIT's net income totaled $855,000, up
from $813,000 for the 1993 second quarter.
   Per-share earnings rose 3 percent to 66 cents from 64 cents because the 
company had additional shares outstanding during the recent quarter.
   CENIT's net interest income for the April-through-June period rose 9 
percent to $3.82 million partly because its acquisition of Homestead Savings 
added $51.1 million of interest-earning assets during the quarter.
   In addition, income from commercial brokerage fees and other non-interest 
sources for the June 30 quarter jumped 38 percent to $690,000.
   However, its net interest margin, a measure of the spread between the cost 
of funds and the yield on its loans and investments, narrowed to 3.36 percent 
from 3.64 percent in the year-earlier period, CENIT said. 
   Meanwhile, its non-interest expenses for the quarter climbed 21 percent to 
$3.06 million. The additional expenses included $93,000 of writedowns on 
property and equipment related to the Homestead merger and a $34,000 
amortization of goodwill from the transaction.  Despite these expenses and 
some non-performing assets picked up from Homestead, ``the merger went very 
smoothly,'' said John O. Guthrie, CENIT's chief financial officer. 
   CENIT's non-performing assets rose 44 percent to $5.12 million, or 1.07 
percent of total assets, on June 30 from $3.55 million,  or 0.88 percent of 
total assets, at mid-1993.
   The company's return on average assets, a measure of bank profitability, 
dropped to 0.72 percent for the recent quarter from 0.80 percent in the 1993 
second quarter.
   For the six months through June, CENIT's net income rose 11 percent to 
$1.48 million from $1.33 million in the first half of 1993. Per-share earnings
were $1.15, up from $1.05.


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