UPDATE 3-United Community says to comply with regulators

(Adds CEO interview, details from filing, updates share price)

By Supantha Mukherjee

BANGALORE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Bank holding company United Community Financial Corp (UCFC.O) said it agreed to cease-and-desist orders issued by federal and state regulatory agencies, sending its shares down about 30 percent.

The orders were issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), the Ohio Department of Financial Institutions and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

The holding company of Home Savings & Loan Co and Butler Wick Corp said in a statement that the orders followed routine regulatory examinations at both institutions in January.

"It is the regulators' opinion that Home Savings needs to reduce its exposure to certain types of high-risk commercial and construction loans and to hire consultants to review our overall risk-management practices," Chief Executive Douglas McKay told Reuters.

The principal business of Home Savings is the origination of mortgage loans, including construction loans on residential and nonresidential real estate.

United Community said it agreed to a implement a debt reduction plan, seek regulatory approval before paying dividends, reduce lending concentrations and enhance overall risk management programs.

The company said it expects earnings to be hurt for at least the remainder of 2008 due to higher compliance costs associated with the orders, but the costs were expected to be offset eventually by lower loan loss provisions.

McKay said he expects the company to stay profitable in the next two quarters.

Shares of the company were trading down $1.80 at $4.06 in midday on Nasdaq.

TROUBLED UNIT

The company said in a regulatory filing that the FDIC had designated Home Savings as being in "troubled condition" for certain regulatory purposes.

CEO McKay said the company has exposure of about $350 million in commercial real estate and construction loans originated by Home Savings.

He said the company had been reducing its exposure for the past 18 months and the orders directed the company to continue doing so.

"There is nothing in the orders from regulators with which we cannot comply easily, and investors should not be concerned about the financial stability of Home Savings," McKay said. The company said the regulators had asked it to adopt and implement plans to reduce its classified assets and delinquent loans.