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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Tokyo Joe's Cafe / Anything goes -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TokyoMex who wrote (3248)	3/30/1998 11:23:00 AM
From: Emec	Respond to of 34592

Article 4 of 36 BUSINESS MFN in last paragraph. INSIDE FINANCE. CORUS ENDS LOOP QUEST, WILL EXPAND ITS HOME William Gruber. 03/29/98 Chicago Tribune CHICAGOLAND FINAL; C Page 2 (Copyright 1998) Corus Bankshares Inc., which had been seeking a Loop site to relocate its headquarters, has called off its search for now. The banking firm, with assets of $2.2 billion at the end of 1997 and 12 Chicago-area offices, is rehabbing its headquarters building at Irving Park Road and Lincoln Avenue on Chicago's North Side. It recently applied for a city permit to build a five-story addition just to the south. Estimated cost for the project is about $7 million, the same amount being spent to renovate its old five-story building. "We're planning an expansion of our existing headquarters and increasing the staff," said David H. Johnson III, executive vice president and chief operating officer. Corus began life as River Forest State Bank & Trust Co. The holding company, then known as River Forest Bancorp Inc., moved its main office from the western suburb after acquiring Lincoln National Bank in 1984. It has acquired several other banks since then. Its nearest office to the Loop is at Madison and Canal Streets. Johnson confirmed that Corus looked briefly at American National Bank and Trust Co.'s building at 33 N. LaSalle St., which American is vacating. Corus decided the space was too big for its needs, he said. "We were more interested in (120 S. LaSalle St.) where American is moving to," he said. "But they beat us to it." Moving east: San Diego-based Bank of Commerce, which claims to be the largest bank lender under the Small Business Administration's program of guaranteed loans to small businesses, plans to open a loan-production office in Chicago this summer. The bank will also establish offices in Atlanta, Salt Lake City and Boise, Idaho, later in the year. It recently opened offices in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix and Tucson. "It is our intention to become the nation's largest SBA lender, not just among banks," said Peter Q. Davis, chairman and CEO. Bank of Commerce says it originated $178 million in SBA loans in 1997, up 33 percent from the year before. That represented about 2 percent of all SBA funding in the U.S. The new offices will operate as Commerce Loan Co. Staying put: Sumitomo Bank Ltd., which is cutting back its U.S. presence, has no plans to close its large branch in Chicago, an official said. The Japanese bank agreed last week to sell its retail banking unit in California to Zions Bancorp and said it will close several representative offices in the U.S. "Our main focus will continue to be on commercial banking, and our Chicago office is a major center for that," said Robert Rabbino, general banking manager based in New York. Sumitomo's branch, located in Sears Tower, had assets of $4.3 billion and outstanding loans of $4.2 billion as of June 30. Bank notes: Northern Trust Global Investments, a unit of Northern Trust Corp., said it was chosen to manage a $100 million bond-index pension fund for the El Paso, Texas, police and fire departments and a $350 million fund for the State of Wyoming. The funds will be geared to a Lehman Brothers bond index. Workout specialist William Brandt said Mercury Finance Corp. could post a profit for the month of March. The Lake Forest-based subprime auto lender has suffered a string of losses since it disclosed in January 1997 that earnings reported for the previous few years were inflated.