Loan Portfolio

MNC Financial Inc. said yesterday that it would cut back its international banking business as part of a broader restructuring to downsize the bank. It will lay off as many as 30 people and close offices in Hong Kong, Brazil and Luxembourg.The company, whose international division once had nearly 100 employees, has already closed a London office.Hugh A. Woltzen, MNC Executive vice president, said the company has been scaling back its international business for several months and plans to concentrate its future international RTC business on providing letters of credit and other fee-based services.

Thanks to the hefty proceeds from the sale of its credit-card subsidiary, MNC Financial Inc. turned in a strong performance during the first quarter this year as its formerly mounting pile of troubled loans showed signs of easing.MNC, the state's largest banking company, reported that it earned $154 million through the first three months of the year, reflecting in large part a $444 million payment it received for MBNA Corp. in January, when it sold its credit-card unit to the public.For analysts, yesterday's results were a mixed bag of pleasant surprises and some worrisome signs.

Baltimore BancorpThis Baltimore-based banking company, parent of the Bank of Baltimore, reported virtually flat earnings for the first quarter, apparently avoiding much of the slump that has befallen many other local banks during the year's first three months.The banking company, with $3.3 billion in assets, said that higher revenues from its fee-based services and other investment-related income was offset by higher operating expenses stemming from increased deposit insurance premiums, advertising costs and expenses related to an expanded credit card portfolio.

Despite reporting a healthy jump in earnings during the first three months, Provident Bankshares Corp. cut its quarterly dividend in half yesterday, to 5 cents a share, saying the need to preserve capital was paramount in banking's currently troubled atmosphere.2 .... .... ....Income.... .... .... .... Share'91.... .... ....815,000.. .... .... .... 0.14'90.... .... ....654,000.. .... .... .... 0.11% change.... .... ..+24.6.. .... .... .... +27.3.... .... .... ....Assets.... .... .... Deposits'91.

The Bank of Baltimore has won the bid for the $24 million home equity portfolio of Yorkridge-Calvert Savings and Loan Association. The purchase price was not disclosed.Yorkridge was taken over by federal regulators in December 1989 because of financial problems. At the time it was the 10th largest savings and loan in Maryland.The purchase will be made through the Resolution Trust Corp., a federal agency that is handling insolvent thrifts.Home-equity loans are secured by the borrowers' homes.

A federal judge in Baltimore has dismissed three lawsuits by disgruntled shareholders of MNC Financial Inc., saying the plaintiffs hadn't proved that the company's failure to disclose problems in its loan portfolio in late 1989 and early 1990 added up to fraud.U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz said the plaintiffs were never able to show anything more than a general suspicion that MNC officials, including former chief executive Alan P. Hoblitzell Jr., had knowingly concealed that MNC's real estate loan portfolio was deteriorating.

The parent of Loyola Federal Savings and Loan Association, joining a growing chorus of financial institutions worried by the region's slowing economy, said yesterday it would report sharply lower earnings for the fourth quarter after pumping about $6.4 million into its reserves to guard against the possibility of mounting bad loans.Baltimore-based Loyola Capital Corp., the state's second-largest thrift, said the move was not in response to any evidence of weakness in its current portfolio.

In the midst of all the bad news from the banking industry these days, the city's first and only minority-owned commercial bank, Harbor Bank of Maryland, can say that it has not been making headlines.Harbor Bank opened in Baltimore in September 1983. It now has assets of about $32.5 million, a loan portfolio of nearly $22 million and, according to the bank's president, Joseph Haskins Jr., it has been profitable since the end of its second year of operation."The original intent of the bank was to service the Baltimore metropolitan community, and essentially have a focus on providing banking services for the minority community.

A Baltimore County investor has filed a lawsuit against Baltimore Bancorp, its directors and Alex. Brown Inc., charging them with violation of federal securities law stemming from the bank holding company's rejection of a $17-a-share takeover offer from First Maryland Bancorp.The suit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on behalf of plaintiff Frank Tischler, who purchased 500 shares of Baltimore Bancorp common stock Aug. 31, about four months after First Maryland made its initial bid to acquire the parent of the Bank of Baltimore.

Two Baltimore-area investors have sued sagging MNC Financial Inc. and former chairman Alan P. Hoblitzell Jr. for allegedly misrepresenting the company's financial health and causing shareholders to lose large amounts of money as the company's stock price plummeted in recent months.The suit, seeking unspecified damages, was filed in U.S. District Court here this week by Robert B. Kelm of Towson and Christopher Trikeriotis of Baltimore.It charges MNC and Hoblitzell, who recently retired with a $1.1 million severance payment and at least $400,000 a year in retirement benefits, with violating federal securities laws, negligence and misrepresenting the quality of the company's rapidly-deteriorating loan portfolio.