4Q Loss Projection Hurts F.N.B.

Shares of F.N.B. Corp. fell sharply Wednesday, after the Hermitage, Pa., company warned that it expects to report a fourth-quarter loss of between $17 million and $21 million.

The $8.4 billion-asset F.N.B. said late Tuesday that the expected loss was driven by an increase in its loss provision related to loans it made in Florida, as well as $19 million of impairment charges on its investments. It had earned $17.1 million a year earlier.

The fourth-quarter provision for loan losses is estimated at between $49 million and $54 million, an increase of more than eightfold from a year earlier. F.N.B. also expects to report chargeoffs more than tripled, to between $20 million and $22 million.

The company said it would take a $16 million other-than-temporary impairment charge on pooled trust-preferred securities that it owns, because of an increase in defaults, rating downgrades, and the weak economy. An additional charge on investments made by its F.N.B. Capital Corp. includes $2 million related to a Florida company and $1 million related to a company with exposure to the automobile industry.

F.N.B. Corp. also said it raised $100 million through the Treasury Department's Capital Purchase Program. It had been approved for more than $180 million, but Bob New, the company's president and chief executive officer, said in a press release that it decided the lower amount would be enough to boost lending, since the company is already well capitalized.

Shares of F.N.B. fell 23%, to close at $9.11.

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