Finance and Economic

Centrue Financial Corp. cut its dividend in half to 7 cents per share as it announced a $1.6 million loss for the fourth quarter of 2008.

The loss of 27 cents per share in the quarter compares with a profit of 49 cents per share, or $3.1 million, a year earlier. Revenue was $10.5 million, down 24 percent from 13.8 million a year ago.

The St. Louis-based company, parent of Centrue Bank, added $5 payday loans for bad credit.2 million to its reserve for possible loan losses. About $850,000 of that reflected a loss the company blamed on fraud by an unnamed Illinois customer. Centrue also took a $2.7 million impairment charge to reflect the lower value of its investment securities.

Source