UPDATE 1-U.S. Fed halts dividends at Beach First National

(Adds details from Fed's order, background)

WASHINGTON Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve Board on Wednesday ordered Beach First National Bancshares Inc BFNB.O to halt payment of dividends and to submit a new plan to maintain adequate capital.

In a written agreement between the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Beach First, which is based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the Fed said the bank holding company shall not declare or pay dividends, purchase or redeem shares or take any other actions that reduce the capital of Beach First National Bank without regulatory approval.

Shares of Beach First, which had $613.6 million in assets on Dec. 31, were down 6 percent at $1.10 prior to the Fed's announcement.

The Fed said Beach First had 60 days to submit to the Richmond Fed an acceptable written plan to maintain sufficient capital at Beach First on a consolidated basis.

The plan needs to take into consideration the bank's classified credits, concentration of credits, allowance for loan and lease losses and projected earnings and asset growth, the Fed said. Beach First must submit quarterly progress reports to the Fed.

The Fed order comes just over three months after another regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, ordered Beach First to submit a revised three-year capital plan.

Beach First on Feb. 8 reported a net loss of $6.03 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, citing continued effects of the economic downturn and the decline in local real estate values. For the full 2009 year, the firm's net loss was $30.05 million, compared with a $3.7 million net loss in 2008. (Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)