HomeFed Corp. Profits Up : Finance: Parent firm of troubled thrift shows its first quarterly gain since 1990, but government plans to sell the S&L; are still on.

The parent of HomeFed Bank on Wednesday reported its first quarterly profit since late 1990, but said the results won’t change the federal government’s plans to force a sale of its troubled thrift this year.

HomeFed Corp. said it had net earnings of $30.7 million in the first quarter ended March 31, but largely because of one-time special gains. The gain contrasted with a first-quarter loss of $173.9 million in 1991. The thrift company lost $807 million in 1991.

The thrift, with assets of $13.6 billion, set aside no additional provisions for loan losses. In 1991, HomeFed set aside nearly $800 million in loan-loss provisions, mostly for bad real estate credits.

Thomas J. Wageman, president and chief executive, said the thrift feels that it has “sufficiently provided for losses, and additional provisions are not required at this time.”

Despite the first-quarter profit, HomeFed is still $400 million short of federal capital requirements. Capital is an institution’s final cushion against losses.

HomeFed missed a March 31 deadline imposed by regulators requiring it to raise $500 million or more in outside capital. As a result, regulators announced last week that the capital-short HomeFed would be sold in a government-assisted deal.

The Office of Thrift Supervision said it would eventually seize the thrift under its Accelerated Recovery Program but only after buyers have been found for all or pieces of the 201-branch thrift. Meanwhile, the thrift will continue operations as usual.

Regulators have declined to estimate what the ultimate cost of the seizure and sale of HomeFed may be. Several other thrifts have expressed interest in acquiring HomeFed.