BANKING/FINANCE

UnionFed’s Losses: Robert E. Novell, who already owned or controlled a small stake in UnionFed Financial Corp., figured that the Brea company had hit bottom last fall and was ready to turn around.

After all, the holding company for Union Federal Savings Bank in Los Angeles had restated its fiscal year profit, under pressure from regulators, and posted an $18.1-million loss for the year ended June 30, 1990. It socked away reserves for possible future losses and seemed to be ready to return to profitability.

So Novell upped the stake that he and two others owned to 5.2% of UnionFed. From September to mid-November, he bought shares for $2.34 to $3.30 a share--far less than the $22.55 he paid for each share he bought in August, 1989.

“There was some expectation on our part that most of the losses were taken, that the problems were over,” said Novell, vice president of Thornton Corp., a Los Angeles firm that makes and leases aircraft and provides investment management advice.

But since then, UnionFed has posted losses of $10.6 million for the first six months of its fiscal year, ended Dec. 31, and its S&L; unit had a $12.9-million fiscal third-quarter loss. Its stock closed Tuesday at $1.875 a share, unchanged from Monday’s close.

Despite the losses, Novell said, he is optimistic about his group’s $1.4-million investment in UnionFed.

“They have a nice franchise in Southern California,” he said. “They have a core of an institution that has good potential for the future.”