Centra Financial Holdings Inc. of Morgantown, W.Va., has become the fifth banking company to return its government capital.

Newnan Coweta Bancshares Inc. in Georgia said its auditor might issue a warning about its ability to survive.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is infusing $20 million into a troubled Florida thrift to keep it afloat, buying time in hopes the Treasury Department will allow insurers to participate in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Appalachian Bancshares Inc. in Ellijay, Ga., said it will restate its fourth-quarter results to show a bigger net loss after a routine Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. examination found additional loan problems.

Eastern Virginia Bankshares Inc. of Tappahannock said Friday that it has agreed to buy First Capital Bancorp Inc. of Glen Allen, Va., for $27 million in stock.

I recently kidded with manager groups that one small positive from the present economy is that it has turned "customer appreciation" from a catch phrase into an honest-to-goodness fact for many businesses.

Protective Life Corp. of Birmingham, Ala., has lost its deal for a struggling Florida banking company.

Peoples Community Bancorp in West Chester, Ohio, blamed the local economy and its nonperforming assets for its inability to meet the April 1 deadline for filing its annual report.

The shareholder votes needed for Yadkin Valley Financial Corp. of Elkin, N.C., to complete its acquisition of American Community Bancshares Inc. in Charlotte are back on.

More banking companies are warning they might not survive.

MIDDLE ATLANTIC

At least four banking companies announced Tuesday that they had returned the government's capital.

The deal announced Monday by Union Bankshares Corp. of Bowling Green, Va., to buy First Market Bank in Richmond for $105.4 million in stock is the largest of the year by far.

For Bank of the Wichitas in Snyder, Okla., picking a handle for its new Internet bank was not as simple as attaching "direct" to the end of its own name, because the owners wanted a unique name that would play both inside and outside its home state.

Guaranty Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday that its capital ratios have likely fallen below the levels required by its regulator.

At least four banking companies announced Tuesday that they had returned the government's capital.

City Bank in Lynwood, Wash., restated its fourth-quarter results Tuesday, widening the net loss to $64.9 million from the previously reported loss of $39.9 million.

Great Southern Bancorp Inc. was not a buyer of other institutions for most of its 86-year history, but a few months ago the Springfield, Mo., company saw an unusual opportunity across state lines.

Bankers today are experiencing extreme outrage from rank-and-file folks who are fed up with what they perceive as dramatic excess in the pay senior executives take home.

Preferred Bank in Los Angeles has revised its fourth-quarter earnings for the second time, increasing its loss to $5 million.