Nationsbank Corp

In its most expensive deal yet, NationsBank Corp. said yesterday that it will acquire St. Louis-based Boatmen's Bancshares Inc. in a transaction valued at $9.5 billion.NationsBank expects to become the country's fourth largest banking company with $230 billion in assets. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company will have more than 13 million customers and offices in 16 states ranging from New Mexico to Maryland.The transaction is expected to close in January, but it is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

NationsBank will close its Towson-based direct sales center, which employs 132 workers, by Jan. 1, the company confirmed yesterday.Company spokeswoman Joanne Stevens said NationsBank is transferring the operation to Richmond, Va. Twelve of the 132 workers, including some managers, have opted to move with the company, she said.The rest of the employees stand to lose their jobs unless they can find positions within the company, she said."We were interested in talking to any of those 132 in going to Richmond," Stevens said.

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks rose for the first time in four days yesterday as bank and other financial issues gained on optimism that borrowing costs won't rise further this year.Signs that consumers are tapped out and price increases aren't sticking have led investors to conclude the economy is expanding at a moderate pace. Only two weeks ago, stocks tumbled when a report showing brisk job growth in February sparked concern that rising interest rates would quash profits."The economy's muddling through and there's still going to be pockets of companies whose earnings are pretty good," said John Dale, a money manager in charge of $1.2 billion Peregrine Capital Management Inc. "The big lesson of [recent]

NEW YORK -- U.S. stocks extended a 14-month rally yesterday amid expectations that falling interest rates will buoy the economy and corporate profits.The Dow Jones industrial average steamed past 5,500 for the first time, and the Nasdaq Stock Market's composite index celebrated its 25th anniversary with a record of its own.Investors focused on shares of bank and insurance companies, such as NationsBank Corp. and American International Group Inc., which benefit first from lower borrowing costs.

NationsBank Corp. said yesterday that it has teamed up with a housing advocacy group to provide $500 million over five years to low- and moderate-income people in Baltimore and other cities so they can buy houses.The program, designed by NationsBank and the Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, will make home loans available to about 10,000 families in Baltimore; Washington; Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; and three as-yet-unspecified cities."It is going to be a big deal in Baltimore," said Bruce Marks, executive director of Boston-based Neighborhood Assistance.

NationsBank Corp. surprised Wall Street yesterday as it reported earning a record $530 million in the third quarter, up 23 percent from a year ago, as profits were boosted by strong growth in consumer and commercial loans and fee income.Earnings per share were up 26 percent to $1.95 in the quarter, compared with $1.55 per share a year ago."I looks like they are getting into Olympic form," said Michael L. Mayo, a bank analyst with Lehman Brothers, referring to the bank's sponsorship of the 1996 Olympics.

Two years ago when NationsBank Corp. took over Baltimore-based MNC Financial Inc., one of the hottest properties that came with the deal was Susan C. Keating.She had risen quickly to become executive vice president of MNC, where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the bank and thousands of employees. She was one of the highest-ranking women in banking in the state, and, more importantly, she was widely viewed as bright, savvy and so well-connected in the community that she could bring business to NationsBank.

NationsBank Corp. said yesterday that its second-quarter earnings rose 7 percent, as the Charlotte, N.C., banking company said it boosted its loan base at an annual 16 percent rate but saw profits grow more slowly because of narrower interest rate spreads and big concentrations of new business in less profitable parts of the company.NationsBank said it earned $467 million, or $1.71 a share, during the three months that ended June 30. It earned $437 million, or $1.58, in the same months of 1994.

NEW YORK -- The International Brotherhood of Teamsters says it wants a federal investigation into whether NationsBank Corp. violated disclosure laws when a top executive said it was interested in combining with Chase Manhattan Corp.NationsBank Vice Chairman James Hance was quoted in yesterday's Wall Street Journal saying, "If [Chase] had an interest in talking to us, we'd certainly be interested in talking to them."Those comments by the No. 2 official of the fourth-largest U.S. bank were "absurdly casual, even reckless," the union said in a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Arthur Levitt.

MIAMI -- NationsBank Corp. has agreed to pay $6.2 million to settle a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 55,000 borrowers who claimed they were improperly billed for loan insurance on cars, boats and trucks.NationsBank, the nation's third-largest banking company, said it expects the settlement to be approved Feb. 16 by U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler in Miami.Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank admitted no wrongdoing.Under the settlement, NationsBank borrowers in Florida, Maryland, North Carolina and five other states, as well as Washington, will receive an average of $91 each, said company spokeswoman Mary Alice Rogers.