In Brief: Replacment Chief Exec For Covest of Illinois

Covest Bancshares of Des Plaines, Ill., has hired James L. Roberts as president and chief executive officer.

The previous president, Larry G. Gillie, was fired in late August. The $549 million-asset company had failed to show much improvement after converting its subsidiary, Covest Banc, from a thrift to a national bank in 1997.

Mr. Roberts was president and CEO of Perpetual Midwest Financial Inc., a thrift holding company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, from 1993 until its sale last year to Commercial Federal of Omaha. Before joining $392 million-asset Perpetual he headed the corporate finance division of Kemper Securities Inc. in Chicago.

An analyst speculated that Mr. Roberts was hired to dress up Covest for a sale.

"He realizes the potential that these companies have," said Wayne Bopp, a bank analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. in Milwaukee. "The only thing we're discussing now is whether they sell in a year or three years."

But Stephen Skiba, a bank analyst at ABN Amro Inc. in Chicago, said he expects Mr. Roberts to focus on improving Covest's performance and attracting commercial customers-a process that may take some time. "The directors are very supportive of this bank staying independent," he said.

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