Bancorp

The parent of 1st Mariner Bank said Monday that it took a minority stake in a small Cecil County bank after a customer defaulted on a loan — not as part of an acquisition strategy. 1st Mariner Bancorp. declined to identify the customer who lost nearly 25 percent of Cecil Bancorp's total shares to 1st Mariner in a collateral claim on a bad loan. The only person with such a significant stake in Elkton-based Cecil is its chairman, Charles F. Sposato, according to regulatory filings.

First Mariner Bank, the Baltimore-based institution that is under regulatory oversight, has acquired 1.8 million shares in Cecil Bancorp Inc., according to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The purchase represents a nearly 25 percent stake in Elkton-based Cecil Bancorp, the parent of Cecil Bank.

Sandy Spring Bancorp, an Olney-based banking company, said Tuesday it will buy CommerceFirst Bancorp of Annapolis in a cash and stock deal valued at $25.4 million. Both Sandy Spring, which has $3.6 billion in assets, and CommerceFirst, with $205 million in assets, trade on the Nasdaq stock market. CommerceFirst shareholders will be allowed to choose Sandy Spring common stock or cash, or a combination of both, the companies said. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2012.

Fairmount Bancorp, the holding company of its namesake bank in Rosedale, announced Thursday that it had completed the acquisition of Baltimore's Fullerton Federal Savings Association. Under the deal, Fairmount sold $793,000 of its common stock to Fullerton Federal depositors and to Fairmount's employee stock ownership plan. Shares were also offered to the public. Hanah.cho@baltsun.com Text BUSINESS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun Business text alerts

Severn Bancorp, the Annapolis-based parent of its namesake bank, posted Friday a net loss for the second quarter due to an increase in loan loss reserves. The company reported a loss of $846,000, or 13 cents per share, for the three months ending June 30, compared with a net profit of $593,000, or 2 cents per share, in the corresponding period last year. The company said it put aside $3 million to cover potential losses on acquisition and development loans. "While we are not pleased with its impact, management is comfortable with the decision to act in a prudent and cautious manner with respect to the allowance for loan losses," Severn President and CEO Alan J. Hyatt said in a statement.

Fairmount Bancorp in Rosedale announced Thursday that it has agreed to acquire Baltimore's Fullerton Federal Savings Association. As part of the agreement, Fullerton Federal will convert from a federally chartered mutual savings association to a stock entity and issue stock to Fairmount. In exchange, Fairmount will offer shares of its stock to Fullerton Federal members and then to Fairmount's employee stock ownership plan in a subscription offering. Once the offering is complete, Fullerton Federal will be integrated into Fairmount Bank.

First Mariner Bancorp, parent of the Baltimore-based bank that is under federal orders to raise capital, posted Monday a fourth-quarter net loss of $33.4 million, or $1.85 per share — its largest quarterly loss since at least 2000. The loss was largely due to a $29.9 million charge to the company's income tax expense, reflecting the lower value of its deferred tax assets. For the same quarter a year ago, the company reported a loss of $3.8 million, or 58 cents per share. Excluding the charge, the company said its loss for the three months ending Dec. 31 was $3.5 million.

American Bank of Rockville is no longer buying four branches from BCSB Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Baltimore County Savings Bank. The termination, which was announced late Wednesday, was a mutual decision and occurred without penalty to either party, the companies said in a statement. The companies cited longer-than-anticipated regulatory approval process for the termination. The sale, announced in January, involved branches in Catonsville, Owings Mills, Ellicott City and Baltimore City.

First Mariner Bancorp reported Monday that it lost $4.7 million in the second quarter, nearly double the loss of the corresponding quarter a year earlier. On a per share basis, the parent company of Baltimore's 1st Mariner Bank lost 28 cents per share, compared with 37 cents the year before. First Mariner Chairman and Chief Executive Edwin F. Hale Sr. blamed the soft economy and weak real estate market for the downward pressure on earnings. The company set aside $4.4 million for loan losses in the second quarter, a 52 percent increase over a year earlier.