REPUBLICBANK &lt;RPT> TO RECLASSIFY BRAZIL LOANS

  RepublicBank Corp said it has placed
  182.6 mln dlrs of all intermediate and term loans to Brazil on
  a non-accrual basis as of March 31.
      It said the reclassification will reduce first quarter
  earnings by 2.8 mln dlrs after taxes, and 11 mln dlrs after
  taxes for all of 1987, if Brazil does not change its position
  of a moratorium on interest payments.
      RepublicBank also said its net income for the first quarter
  is expected to be about 10.4 mln dlrs or 30 cts a share on a
  fully diluted basis. In the year-ago first quarter the company
  earned 23.1 mln dlrs or 75 cts a share.
      The company also said its first quarter results are
  expected to include a provision for loan losses of 55 mln dlrs,
  about 20 mln dlrs over net loan-charge-offs of about 35 mln
  dlrs. It said the provision will increase loan losses to about
  328 mln dlrs or 2.2 pct of loans.
      RepublicBank, with total assets of about 21 billion dlrs,
  announced in December an agreement with InterFirst Corp &lt;IFC>
  to form First RepublicBank Corp. If the merger is approved by
  regulatory agencies and stockholders, it would create the 12th
  largest bank holding company in the United States.
  

