In Brief: Investors Seek Seats On N.C. Thrift's Board

A group of investors is trying to gain seats on the board of a North Carolina thrift holding company.

Claiming that its earnings were hurt by "exorbitant compensation plans for management," shareholders of Carolina Fincorp in Rockingham said last week they would push to elect some new blood this fall at the company's annual meeting.

The group, which is calling itself the Committee to Enhance Shareholder Value, complained that Carolina Fincorp's return on assets and equity lagged far behind the state average.

Carolina Fincorp, parent of $117 million-asset Richmond Savings Bank, returned 0.67% on assets and 4.50% on equity in 1998, compared with state averages of 1.28% on assets and 14.79% on equity, according to FDIC data.

The activist group has filed no documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission and did not say how much stock it owns. The group has started a Web site to promote its cause, taking the name of Carolina Fincorp's thrift subsidiary: www.richmondsavingsbank.com.

No date has been set for the annual meeting.

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