Thrift regulators Tuesday put a damper on plans by an area institution to do a little stock bargain hunting.

PFF Bank Trust was told by federal regulators it couldn't buy any more of its own stock.

The federal Office of Thrift Supervision denied a request by PFF Bancorp, the thrift's parent, for a waiver that would have allowed it to buy back 5 percent of its approximately 16.2 million outstanding shares.

Under the right conditions, the agency allows savings and loans to repurchase as much as 25 percent of their shares in the three years following conversion from a mutual to a shareholder-owned institution.

PFF, which opened its 24th branch in Corona earlier in April, first sold stock in March 1996 and has completed five stock buybacks that represent 25 percent of PFF's shares.

Regulators turned down the sixth request because it "did not qualify under our rules and policies," said agency spokesman Bill Fulwider.

PFF said it was disappointed by a decision that "had no business rationale" behind it. The thrift said it "remains committed to stock repurchase programs," adding that restrictions will be lifted after the March 1999 three-year anniversary of its conversion.

"At the current pricing levels we feel our stock is an extraordinary value," said Larry Rinehart, PFF president and chief executive.

PFF shares fell 47 cents to $14 in over-the-counter trading Tuesday. In the past year PFF stock has traded as low as $11.50 and as high as $22.19.

The Pomona-based thrift, which has assets of $3 billion and operate 11 Inland Empire branches, had said the repurchase program was a "sound use of capital and represents an excellent means of enhancing shareholder value."

Rinehart estimated that PFF could spend upwards of $75 million to $85 million on stock repurchases and still remain "a very well capitalized institution."

The current stock market selloff has hit financial service firms particularly hard, but thrift regulators have not been deluged with waiver requests from institutions eager to snap up their own shares at bargain prices.

"We have had several inquiries and requests but there hasn't been a flood of them," said Fulwider.

Published 9/23/1998