DATE: Friday, September 12, 1997            TAG: 9709120565

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   39 lines

TRADING OF ESSEX SHARES COMES TO TEMPORARY HALT

Trading in the stock of thrift holding company Essex Bancorp Inc. was halted temporarily Thursday in the midst of especially heavy trading.

Shares of the Norfolk-based parent of Essex Savings Bank jumped 66 percent, or $1.25 each, to close at $3.125. The stock hit a 52-week high of $3.375 before retreating.

More than 99,000 shares changed hands Thursday.

In a brief statement, Essex said it wasn't aware of any events that would account for the heavy trading. The company has 1.05 million common shares, which trade on the American Stock Exchange.

Essex, whose assets totaled $190.1 million at the end of June, grew slightly during the first half of the year after shedding several of branches and some of its deposits in recent years. During 1996, the company sold nine branches.

The company's Essex Savings subsidiary narrowly avoided being seized by federal regulators last year by merging with Home Savings Bank in Norfolk.

Essex had been weakened by chronic losses from sour real estate loans, prompting regulators to consider taking control. A last-minute merger with Home provided Essex with an infusion of badly needed capital.

For the three months through June 30, Essex reported net income of $390,000, compared with a net loss of $7.52 million in the second quarter of 1996.

The company's earnings for the recent quarter included a gain of $97,000 from the sales of former offices in Portsmouth and Newport News.

Trading in other thrift stocks in the region, including Virginia Beach Federal Financial Corp., was active Thursday after a West Virginia banking company agreed to buy the parent of George Mason Bank in Fairfax for $215 million of stock.

Shares of Virginia Beach Federal, the parent of First Coastal Bank, hit a 52-week high of $16.875. The stock rose $1.62 to close at $16.25. More than 100,000 of Virginia Beach Federal's shares changed hands.

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