MNC Has Small Profit; Gannett, General Dynamics, Freddie Mac Earnings Up
After losing money in six of the last seven quarters due to problems with commercial real estate loans, MNC Financial Inc., the parent company of Maryland National Bank and American Security Bank, yesterday reported a tiny $1.1 million profit for the first quarter.</br></br>Once payments to holders of preferred shares were made, earnings per share were zero in the first quarter, compared with an $82.4 million loss in the 1991 fourth quarter and a $154 million ($1.75) profit in the first three months of 1991, when MNC had a large gain on the sale of its credit card subsidiary.</br></br>During the quarter just ended, MNC wrote off $100 million worth of bad loans and disposed of about $175 million worth of foreclosed properties. It set aside $46.4 million to cover potential future losses, a figure largely offset by a $35 million gain on investment securities and a $6 million gain on the sale of part of its mortgage-servicing portfolio.</br></br>Nonperforming loans fell by $154 million in the quarter, to $969 million. They totaled $1.272 billion a year earlier.</br></br>Frank P. Bramble, MNC Financial's president and chief executive, said the return to profitability "reflects continuing improvement in asset quality and core earning power."