First Federal Bankshares Inc. of Sioux City, Iowa, swung to a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss of $19.3 million, or $5.94 a share, from earnings of $670,000, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier.

Corus Bankshares Inc.'s first quarterly loss in its history likely will not be its last, but the Chicago company says it has the capital to absorb further losses and that it intends to ride out the downturn in the condominium market by financing more office, hotel, and apartment projects.

MIDWEST

Forced out as chairman and chief executive of Sovereign Bancorp Inc. two years ago, Jay S. Sidhu is back in the banking business with a new title: white knight.

Two weeks after announcing a $55 million rights offering, BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. pulled the plug on the plan Tuesday.

Vineyard National Bancorp's disclosure late Monday that it could not guarantee its own survival may not affect its efforts to raise capital, mainly because potential investors have been well aware of its problems, company officials and analysts said.

Echoing their House counterparts, leaders of the Senate Banking Committee are urging the Farm Credit Administration to withdraw a proposed rule that they say would give Farm Credit System lenders powers that go beyond their intended mission of serving farmers and ranchers.

Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. in Elkin, N.C., said Monday that its second-quarter net income fell 44% from a year earlier, to $2.1 million, or 19 cents a share.

Many banking companies in need of capital this year have struggled to raise it.

Pacific Mercantile Bancorp in Costa Mesa, Calif., said Monday that it lost $830,000 in the second quarter on an eightfold increase, to $2.7 million, in its provision for losses on residential construction loans.

GERMANTOWN, Md. – Montgomery County Employees FCU yesterday moved its offices from the Washington suburb of Rockville, Md., to nearby Germantown.

Losses from bad loans to developers continue to mount for 1st Centennial Bancorp in Redlands, Calif.

To the Editor:

Now that a group of dissidents has won control of Vineyard National Bancorp's board, the question on Wall Street's mind is whether the dissidents can raise additional capital where the previous board could not.

Activist shareholder Joseph Stilwell often battles with thrifts in which he invests, and now he is taking on the Office of Thrift Supervision itself.

Patriot National Bancorp Inc. in Stamford, Conn., said Thursday that its second-quarter profit fell 26% from a year earlier, to $396,000, as declining property values and weak home sales in its market area forced it boost to its loan-loss provision.

Solera National Bank in Lakewood, Colo., is hoping it can serve predominantly Hispanic consumers and businesses without having to broaden its focus.

Saehan Bancorp in Los Angeles said Thursday that it lost $1.6 million in the second quarter and that it slashed its work force by nearly 10% in July to save costs.

Having lost money in six consecutive quarters, Irwin Financial Corp. of Columbus, Ind., has a simple plan for becoming profitable again: Exit the national home equity lending and small-ticket leasing businesses, and focus on small-business and consumer banking in its local communities.