The May 9 article "Small Banks Get Quicker Payoff from Relationship Management" on page 1 and the chart that ran with it misstated the earnings trend at Farmers and Mechanics National Bank of Frederick, Md.
Largely because of merger costs, net income of the parent F&M Bancorp fell 17.6% from 1997 to 1999. The 25% rise cited in the chart and the article was the increase in the value to the bank of its average customer household.