First Capital Bancorp. (FCVA) said Friday that its second-quarter loss widened, compared to a year ago, as the company added $6.3 million to its loan loss reserves, nearly doubling them to 2.78% of total loans.

"The Company took an aggressive stance to protect against further deterioration of the economy and environmental factors that may affect the loan portfolio in the future,” said John Presley, managing director and CEO of First Capital Bancorp, in a statement. “We took this preventative action despite the fact that some of our core metrics in the loan portfolio have shown improvement since the end of the first quarter.”

Presley went on to say that the bank believed it “prudent” to mimic the Fed’s conservative sentiment in its loan loss reserves.

The Virginia-based bank holding company posted a second-quarter net loss of $3.5 million or $1.23 a share, compared with a year-ago loss of $731,000 or 29 cents a share.

Total assets rose 2.9% during the first half of 2010, to $545.8 million, an increase of $15.4 million from December 31, 2009. Total loans rose 2.1% from the end of last year, to $412 million. Deposits rose to $435.7 million, up 3.2% in the first half of the year.

Net interest income rose 33.9% to $3.9 million, compared with net interest income of $2.9 million in the year-ago period. Non-interest expenses rose 6.7% or $202,000 during the quarter, compared with the second quarter of 2009.

Shares of First Capital Bancorp rose 30 cents or 5% in Friday’s session, closing out the week at $6.35.