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OmniAmerican Bancorp in Fort Worth, Texas, said Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings nearly quadrupled from the same period in 2010, to $1.2 million, as declines in loan yields were more than offset by an 18% increase in average balances of earning assets.

For the full year, OmniAmerican's earnings rose 135%, to $4 million.

The profit growth was driven primarily by a 67% increase in investment securities, which helped boost assets to more than $1.3 billion. Net interest income — which was also aided by lower funding costs — rose 6.1% in the quarter, to $9.9 million, despite the fact that yields on loans declined by 61 basis points due to low interest rates.

Noninterest income increased by nearly 11%, to $3.9 million, due primarily to gains on sales of securities.

OmniAmerican is a former credit union that converted to a thrift in 2006. The company went public in 2010.