New Mexico

Two already troubled community banks recorded additional first-quarter losses this week in revising their results after re-evaluating problem loans.

The struggling First State Bancorp. in Albuquerque narrowed its first-quarter loss by 36% from a year earlier, to $15.7 million, as it cut its credit costs by half.

Fourth-quarter earnings reports from small and midsize banking companies showcase some favorable trends, notably that credit deterioration appears to be stabilizing and deposits have bloomed on many balance sheets.

WASHINGTON — Regulators seized five banks in as many states Friday, bringing the 2010 failure total to nine.

President Obama is due to meet today with 11 chief executives of community banks, following up on a meeting with the heads of larger institutions last week.

The significantly undercapitalized Charter Bank in Sante Fe, N.M., must come up with a plan to sell itself if it cannot boost its capital ratios by yearend.

A new group formed to buy failing banks plans to use its recent deal for tiny, well-capitalized Palisades National Bank as a springboard for further acquisitions.

Credit kept worsening at First State Bancorp. in Albuquerque last quarter — leaving the company undercapitalized and its bank unit only adequately capitalized.

The once-acquisitive company announced after the market closed Wednesday that it had hired the investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to review strategic alternatives, including a sale.