THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507200378
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Signet Banking Corp., which spun off its sizable credit-card subsidiary earlier this year, said Wednesday its second-quarter net income dropped 41 percent from the comparable three months in 1994.
However, the Richmond-based banking company said income for the recent quarter was up 88 percent after excluding its contribution to Capital One Corp., the credit-card holding company that emerged from the spinoff.
Meanwhile, Jefferson Bankshares Inc., parent of Jefferson National Bank, said its net income for the June 30 quarter slipped 3 percent.
Signet said it earned $29.69 million, or 50 cents a share, in the April-through-June quarter. That compared with $50.39 million, or 88 cents, in the year-earlier period.
The company, which has concentrated on marketing more of its lending by mail and telephone, said its second-quarter earnings were helped by growth in direct-mail consumer loans and commercial leasing.
Signet's earnings ``are a little bit stronger than most people expected,'' said Vernon Plack, an analyst with the securities firm Scott & Stringfellow Inc. in Richmond. ``They are seeing some good growth in their information-based strategy and are putting loans on their books with pre-approved checks mailed to consumers.''
For the first half, Signet's net income fell 31 percent to $71.91 million from $103.5 million in the January-through-June period of 1994. Per-share earnings were $1.21, down from $1.81 for last year's first half.
Separately, Charlottesville-based Jefferson Bankshares said its second-quarter net income slipped to $5.9 million from $6.08 million in the comparable three months of 1994. Per-share earnings were 39 cents, down from 40 cents.
Jefferson's results for the year-earlier quarter included a one-time, pre-tax gain of $1.2 million from the sale of securities and $654 million of non-recurring expenses.
For the six months through June 30, its net income rose 2 percent to $11.45 million from $11.21 million in the comparable period in 1994. Earnings per share were 76 cents, up from 74 cents. by CNB