Robert Barba

Bank of Hawaii Corp. in Honolulu said Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 3% from a year earlier, to $40.5 million as growth in noninterest income was offset by higher credit costs and a lower margin.

After nearly two years of rapid asset growth, PrivateBancorp Inc. in Chicago is expected to have a much slower 2010 as it gets its financial house in order.

Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. has won one round in its battle for recapitalization. The $3.5 billion-asset company in Melrose Park, Ill., announced Friday that it persuaded 82% of its Series A preferred shareholders to convert to common shareholders.

Sterling Bancshares Inc. in Houston reported Thursday that it returned to profitability in the fourth quarter, after a sharp loss in the third quarter.

Valley National Bancorp announced Thursday that it is slowing de novo branch expansion in New Jersey and New York as it sees the opportunity to expand through acquisition.

Prosperity Bancshares Inc. in Houston is set to pick up Texas branches that were once owned by FBOP Corp.

Its numbers are still a bit wanting, but Washington Federal Inc. is distinguishing itself from the pack of recession-hit also-rans in the beleaguered Pacific Northwest.

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. continued its selling spree, on Friday announcing its 10th deal since May.

Bank consultants say the double denial could signal that the significantly undercapitalized Amcore is running out of options and that without dramatic action to restore its languishing capital the bank's days could be numbered.

First Midwest Bancorp Inc. in Itasca, Ill., on Thursday announced the pricing of its public offering, of 16.4 million shares of common stock.

Old National Bancorp of Evansville, Ind., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter results would take a hit from a $12 million loss on a "non-real-estate loan participation."

The $4 billion-asset company in Rockford, Ill., announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency rejected the company's Dec. 4 capital plan for its Amcore Bank unit, saying it was not based on realistic assumptions.

The $499 million-asset company in Elmira, N.Y., reported Tuesday that it earned $4.5 million in 2009, up 50% from a year earlier. The company said the record earnings outpaced its projections for an expansion in the Finger Lakes market in 2007.

North Asia Investment Corp., a $50 million special-purpose acquisition company led by a group of South Korean investors, announced Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire Pacific City Financial Corp., a Los Angeles company that caters to Korean-Americans.

The $3.5 billion-asset company in Charleston, S.C., said in a press release late Friday that it expects to record a loan-loss provision of $25 million to $26 million for its quarter that ended Dec. 31.

Given its performance and capital levels, Chemical Financial Corp. had long been thought of as a market consolidator in its home state of Michigan, but it remained on the sidelines — until now.

Community Central Bank Corp. in Mount Clemens, Mich., said Thursday that it had raised $2.7 million in fresh capital. The investment was made through a private placement involving local investors who bought convertible perpetual preferred stock.

Imagine trying to persuade regulators to let a Michigan de novo expand by eight times the goal of its initial business plan on the eve of the economic meltdown.

Upon disclosing its third and largest branch deal Tuesday, Amcore Financial Inc. made another announcement: its capital ratios are finally headed in the right direction.

Webster Financial Corp. announced Monday that it plans to expand its business banking portfolio by $400 million in the coming year.