In Brief: Bank Cites Merger Costs For a 97% Slide in Profits

third-quarter and nine-month earnings, but attributed the decline largely to expenses from a pending merger. The $384 million-asset company earned $26,872 in the third quarter, off 97% from $854,517 a year earlier. Nine-month income of $930,341 was down 66% from a year earlier. Conservative said it had $460,000 in expenses during the third quarter related to the pending merger with Commercial Federal Corp., Omaha. In addition, the 1994 quarter included a nonrecurring gain of $301,000 from a commercial property sale. Analysts did not expect the merger - scheduled to close in early 1996 - to be affected by the performance.