THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 30, 1996 TAG: 9601300273
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Blaming a previously announced loss on the sale of investment securities, Life Bancorp Inc. said its net income for the final quarter of 1995 fell 22 percent from the year-earlier period.
The Norfolk parent of Life Savings Bank, which had been helped by an improvement in its net interest income and a smaller provision for loan losses, also reported a 41 percent increase in net income for the full year.
Separately, Seaboard Bancorp Inc. in Virginia Beach said its shareholders approved a merger offer of $8.2 million, or $1.65 a share, from Life Bancorp. Seaboard said it expected the transaction to be completed Wednesday.
Life made its cash offer to acquire Seaboard last August, saying the three Virginia Beach branches of Seaboard's savings bank subsidiary would be attractive additions to Life's existing network of 17 branches.
For the three months through Dec. 31, Life said it earned $2.13 million, or 21 cents a share, after sustaining a loss of $553,000 on the sale of mortgage-backed securities. In the comparable three months of 1994, the thrift holding company earned $2.74 million, or 27 cents a share.
In December, Life said it would report lower fourth-quarter earnings after selling $52 million of mortgage securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association. Life said it sold the securities because of their low yields and expected to earn better returns by reinvesting the proceeds.
For all of 1995, Life said its net income totaled $9.15 million, or 90 cents a share, compared with $6.48 million in 1994.
Life, which had been owned by its depositors, had an initial public offering of 10.9 million common shares in October 1994 as part of its conversion to a stock institution.
Along with its results for the fourth quarter and the year, Life announced a quarterly dividend of 11 cents a share payable Feb. 29 to shareholders of record Feb. 16. by CNB