Commercial Bank

Patapsco Bancorp Inc., the holding company for Patapsco Bank, said yesterday that it has signed an agreement to acquire Belmar Federal Savings and Loan Association in Baltimore.Belmar, a one-office mutual company with assets of $18.7 million, will be merged into the Patapsco Bank in Dundalk.Patapsco Bancorp stock will be offered to qualified members of Belmar at a discount to the market price, said Joseph Bouffard, the holding company's president.As part of the acquisition, Belmar will convert to a commercial bank, Bouffard said.

In coming years your community bank may be merging with a rival, closing branches and redesigning the interiors of branches that remain, says Columbia-based banking consultant Anita G. Newcomb. With nearly three decades of experience running banks, handling bank mergers and advising banks on strategy, Newcomb sees smaller lending institutions combining in a manner similar to what happened to the industry after the financial collapse of the late 1980s. All banks are pressured by new red tape, fee limits and interest rate squeezes.

Patapsco Federal Savings and Loan Association said yesterday that it has received approval from federal regulators to convert to a federally chartered savings and loan that is publicly held.Once the conversion is completed, the Dundalk-based thrift, which is currently owned by depositors, plans to become a state-chartered commercial bank upon receiving approval from state and federal banking regulators.The conversion "will enable us to access the capital markets more effectively as a stock organization," said Joseph Bouffard, president of the $77.1 million-asset Patapsco Federal.

Baltimore County Savings Bank has converted from a federally chartered savings institution to a state-chartered commercial bank, it announced Friday. Joseph J. Bouffard, the president and chief executive officer of the bank and parent BCSB Bancorp, said the move was is consistent with the bank's community banking focus and would allow it to better "compete in our market. " The conversion became effective as of Friday's closing. It will not change customers' loan and deposit accounts or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp's $250,000 insurance limit.

Provident Bankshares Corp. reported a 6.6 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income yesterday, saying its commercial loans and core deposits grew. The Baltimore-based bank reported net income of $14.2 million, or 56 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $13.3 million, or 53 cents per share, for the year-earlier period. The results beat analysts' estimates by a penny, according to Thomson First Call. "It feels pretty good," said Gary N. Geisel, Provident's chairman and chief executive.

In coming years your community bank may be merging with a rival, closing branches and redesigning the interiors of branches that remain, says Columbia-based banking consultant Anita G. Newcomb. With nearly three decades of experience running banks, handling bank mergers and advising banks on strategy, Newcomb sees smaller lending institutions combining in a manner similar to what happened to the industry after the financial collapse of the late 1980s. All banks are pressured by new red tape, fee limits and interest rate squeezes.

A Pennsylvania man was charged Wednesday in connection with an armedrobbery at the Commercial Bank in Bel Air earlier that day. He is suspected of stealing more than $1,600 in cash after threatening a teller with a handgun.John W. Harkins, spokesman for the Bel Air Police Department, said police are now investigating whether the suspect arrested in the Commercial Bank robbery -- Jason S. Leamer, 19, of Hollidaysburg, Blair County, Pa. -- was involved in the Feb. 11 armed robbery of the Baltimore County Savings Bank in Bel Air.Bel Air police charged Leamer with theft, robbery with a deadly weapon, and use of a handgun for the hold-up at the Commercial Bank, court records show.

Baltimore County police are canvassing Catonsville for a man who robbed a Farmers & Commercial Bank branch on Frederick Avenue between Bloomsbury Avenue and Bishops Lane yesterday morning, police said.At 9: 15 a.m., shortly after the bank opened at 9 a.m., a man entered the bank and demanded money from a teller. No customers were in the branch at the time. When the teller did not comply immediately, the man started shouting but did not threaten the teller or show a weapon, according to police.

KUWAIT CITY -- For seven months the Kuwaiti dinars lay hidden with gold bracelets and rings in a hole beneath the tiles of his bathroom floor.Now Abdul Hamed al-Atar was handing over the $8,500 in old currency to the Commercial Bank of Kuwait in return for the freshly printed bills of new Kuwaiti dinars."

Columbia Bancorp. and Fairview Federal Savings & Loan Association plan to merge, an agreement that would make The Columbia Bank the thirdlargest commercial bank in Howard County.Columbia Bancorp is theparent company of The Columbia Bank. Fairview Federal Savings & Loanis based in Ellicott City.Federal regulators must still approve the plan. A decision is expected before summer.In November, the financial institutions announced Columbia Bank's intention to acquire Fairview Federal, a federalthrift established in 1916, with assets of about $108 million.

The defunct Suburban Federal Savings Bank, which succumbed to the mortgage crisis, is now Essex Bank and the new owners want to let everyone know it's a new institution with better standards. On Wednesday executives with Essex, headquartered in Tappahannock, Va., began a four-day tour to hold grand openings at the seven branches it bought in January when Suburban Federal became the first Maryland bank to go out of business because of bad real estate and construction loans. They'll follow up with a marketing campaign that includes television commercials and mailings later this summer.

NEW YORK - The investment bank Goldman Sachs, the firm that has looked the best throughout the credit crisis, reported a profit yesterday that was 70 percent less than a year ago, as executives tried to rebut notions that their firm's business model might be broken. Goldman's profit of $845 million, or $1.81 a share, in the third quarter compared with a profit a year earlier of $2.81 billion, or $6.13 a share. The results, while in the black, showed that even the strongest on Wall Street are having a tough time making money.

Provident Bankshares Corp. reported a 6.6 percent increase in fourth-quarter net income yesterday, saying its commercial loans and core deposits grew. The Baltimore-based bank reported net income of $14.2 million, or 56 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $13.3 million, or 53 cents per share, for the year-earlier period. The results beat analysts' estimates by a penny, according to Thomson First Call. "It feels pretty good," said Gary N. Geisel, Provident's chairman and chief executive.

Edwin F. Hale Sr. is selling the trucking company that served as the foundation for his growing banking and real estate holdings, and earned him a reputation as one of Baltimore's most prominent entrepreneurs. Hale Intermodal Trucking Co., which mostly transports cargo containers and machinery from Baltimore and other East Coast ports, will be taken over by Pottsville, Pa.-based Evans Delivery Co. Inc., an old-line transportation company that operates more than 500 tractors at terminals on the East Coast, including Maryland.

Ralph Robertson says his bank is every bit as important to the success of his farm as the seed he sows, the tractors he drives and the cooperation of Mother Nature. The 54-year-old Carroll County farmer learned that more than 25 years ago, when the local bank with which he had been doing business turned its back on him because agriculture was going through a period of financial difficulty. When times were good, he said, the commercial bank served his money needs. "But in the mid-'70s, when times were tough for farmers, the bank shifted its focus," Robertson said.

A director of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp. helped arrange an $11,000 loan to a police support group on whose board he also serves, records released this week show. The loan had nothing to do with the agency's stated mission of helping disadvantaged businesses. Records show the county-funded agency lent the money to the Anne Arundel County Police Foundation to "help fund-raising efforts" and serve its mission of "community outreach." The law enforcement group raises money for an annual banquet and provides funds for such expenses as veterinary bills for police dogs, said Joseph Conte, the group's president.

Edwin F. Hale Sr. is selling the trucking company that served as the foundation for his growing banking and real estate holdings, and earned him a reputation as one of Baltimore's most prominent entrepreneurs. Hale Intermodal Trucking Co., which mostly transports cargo containers and machinery from Baltimore and other East Coast ports, will be taken over by Pottsville, Pa.-based Evans Delivery Co. Inc., an old-line transportation company that operates more than 500 tractors at terminals on the East Coast, including Maryland.

Ralph Robertson says his bank is every bit as important to the success of his farm as the seed he sows, the tractors he drives and the cooperation of Mother Nature. The 54-year-old Carroll County farmer learned that more than 25 years ago, when the local bank with which he had been doing business turned its back on him because agriculture was going through a period of financial difficulty. When times were good, he said, the commercial bank served his money needs. "But in the mid-'70s, when times were tough for farmers, the bank shifted its focus," Robertson said.

Columbia Bancorp's net income rose 8 percent in the second quarter as commercial lending increased, the Columbia banking company said yesterday.The company, the parent of Columbia Bank with 14 bank offices, reported income of $1.27 million for the three months that ended June 30, up from $1.18 million for the corresponding period a year earlier.The company made 28 cents per diluted share in the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimate by 2 cents per share. The earnings marked a 12 percent jump from 25 cents per diluted share in last year's quarter.

Financially struggling North American Vaccine acknowledged yesterday that it is in talks with another company interested in purchasing all or part of the Columbia-based company. Tom Newberry, director of investor relations for North American Vaccine, declined to identify the suitor. "The only thing I can say is these are more than preliminary discussions," Newberry said. He said North American was in discussions with one potential buyer but had multiple discussions under way to license out experimental vaccines on which the company has been working or to form alliances for co-developing and co-marketing vaccines in the company's pipeline.