Merchants National Corp, with 3.7billion dlrs in assets, said it will report a loss of 13 mln
dlrs for the second quarter due to its decision to increase its
provision for losses by 30 mln dlrs, mainly due to
uncertainties surrounding Latin American debt.
    In the second quarter last year, Merchants reported net
income of 6.2 mln dlrs or 68 cts a share.
    As a result of the increased loan loss provision, the bank
said the allowance for loan losses will increase from 1.4 pct
to 2.5 pct of the bank's total loans. The bank said its expects
to report estimated net of over 15 mln dlrs for 1987.
 Reuter
