EARNINGS : CalFed Posts $139-Million Loss for 1991

CalFed Inc., struggling under the weight of problem real estate loans and investments, said Thursday that it lost $83.6 million in the fourth quarter of 1991 and $139.1 million for the year.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles-based thrift set aside $171 million to cover potential loan and real estate losses. CalFed, parent of California Federal Bank, said $41 million of the reserve involved a real estate investment that regulators made the thrift devalue. The investment was in shopping centers and apartments in California.

CalFed’s results contrast with sharply improved results reported by other California thrifts this week. All thrifts, CalFed included, have benefited from lower interest rates because the spread has widened between the interest payments they take in on loans and the interest they pay out to depositors.

CalFed is under regulatory pressure to pump $375 million into its thrift unit by mid-year. The move is seen as an attempt by regulators to force CalFed to shift to the thrift about $120 million that the parent company holds--as well as pressuring it into a merger, possibly a government-assisted one. CalFed has been looking at mergers and other alternatives with the help of the Wall Street firm First Boston.

CalFed’s loss comes to $3.26 a share for the fourth quarter and $5.43 a share for the year. Its stock Thursday gained 37.5 cents to close at $3.50.

Separately, San Francisco-based Union Bank, which is controlled by Bank of Tokyo, reported that its earnings fell 55% in the third quarter to $17.2 million, or 47 cents a share, from $38.3 million, or $1.10 a share, a year earlier.

As with most California banks, Union Bank has been hurt by the state’s sluggish commercial real estate market. For the year, Union Bank’s profit fell 36% to $93.5 million, or $2.64 a share.