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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 13, 1994                   TAG: 9410140046
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: 8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CENTRAL FIDELITY'S EARNINGS RISE

Central Fidelity Banks Inc. on Wednesday reported a 2 percent increase in net income to $27.4 million, or 70 cents a share, for the third quarter. That compares with $26.7 million, or 69 cents, for the 1993 period.

For the first nine months, net income was $86.27 million, or $2.21 a share, compared with last year's $77.18 million, or $2, for a gain of 11.8 percent.

Chairman Lewis N. Miller Jr. said Central Fidelity experienced continued pressure on interest profit margins during the recent quarter. But, he said, strong loan growth, continuing improvement in nonperforming assets and increased efficiency accounted for the performance.

Loans for the quarter grew 26.9 percent to $5.6 billion, with continuing strength in all categories of loans. Total deposits registered growth of 7.8 percent to $7.1 billion following what the bank called a successful promotion of certificates of deposit that generated more than $500 million in deposit growth.

Central Fidelity reported a $4.4 million securities loss during the quarter, compared with a gain of $50.7 million for the same quarter last year.

by CNB