THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 TAG: 9601240363
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
Helped by increases in loans and other earning assets, Bank of Tidewater and Commonwealth Bankshares Inc. reported higher net income for the fourth quarter and the 1995 full year.
However, Old Point Financial Corp. in Hampton reported a sharp drop in net income for the Dec. 31 quarter and lower earnings for the year. Old Point, the parent of Old Point National Bank, said its net income was hurt by additions to its reserve for loan losses.
In Virginia Beach, Bank of Tidewater said it earned $512,874 for the October-through-December quarter, up from $380,132 in the comparable period of 1994. Per-share earnings were 37 cents, up from 28 cents.
The community bank attributed the earnings improvement to lower retirement-plan expenses and a reduction in the cost of its federal deposit insurance.
For all of 1995, Bank of Tidewater earned $1.85 million, up from $1.69 million in 1994. Earnings per share rose to $1.34 from $1.25.
At Commonwealth Bankshares, the Norfolk parent of Bank of the Commonwealth, fourth-quarter net income totaled $301,000, compared with $245,500 in the year-earlier quarter. Per-share earnings were 36 cents, up from 29 cents in the 1994 fourth quarter.
Commonwealth's net income for the full year amounted to $835,500, compared with $814,100 in 1994. Per-share earnings dipped to 94 cents from 96 cents because of an increase in the number of shares outstanding.
Commonwealth said its loans grew 11 percent to $60 million while investment securities increased 16 percent to $17.3 million.
However, its net interest margin - a measure of the spread between the cost of funds and the yield on loans and investments - narrowed last year to 3.9 percent from 4.3 percent in 1994.
Old Point Financial's fourth-quarter net income fell to $217,000 from $795,000 in the year-earlier period. Per-share earnings were 17 cents, down from 63 cents.
The company, which made no provision for loan losses in the Dec. 31 quarter of 1994, added $800,000 to loan-loss reserves in the 1995 fourth quarter. Old Point's net income for the quarter and for the full year also were hurt by declines in income from fees and other non-interest sources.
For the full year, Old Point's net income fell 16 percent to $2.34 million from $2.77 million in 1994. Per-share earnings were $1.64, down from $2.20. by CNB