Sun Bancorp Inc. in Vineland, N.J., which has said it planned to trim expenses to improve profitability, said Friday that it is selling three of its branches to three separate buyers.

Emma Allen and Frank Johnson left their banking jobs at First Charter Corp. in Charlotte last winter for what they describe as a higher calling: to preach the gospel of basic money management.

Capitol Federal Financial in Topeka, Kan., said Friday that net income in its fiscal fourth quarter fell 23% from a year earlier, to $9.9 million. Diluted earnings per share for the period, which ended Sept. 30, fell 22%, to 14 cents, a penny below the average of analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Financial.

Shares of BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., fell 3.3% Thursday after it disclosed in a Securities and Exchange filing that it had discovered a problem with a large development loan.

AmericanWest Bancorp in Spokane said Thursday that it was revising third-quarter earnings to reflect an increase in its loan-loss provision and a subsequent chargeoff of $2.4 million from two bad loans. As a result, the $1.4 billion-asset AmericanWest's net income fell 72% from the third quarter of 2005, to $900,000. It had previously reported that earnings fell 38%, to $2.4 million.

A small Kentucky bank stands to become a leader in a little-known niche market with its deal to buy PNC Financial Services Group Inc.'s military allotment unit.

First National Financial Services Inc. of Elk River, Minn., has agreed to buy the $68 million-asset Maple Lake Bancorp. of Maple Lake, Minn.

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First Banks Inc. of St. Louis is bulking up in Houston.

NEW ENGLAND

First PacTrust Bancorp Inc. in Chula Vista, Calif., said Tuesday that third-quarter earnings dropped 7.4% from a year earlier, to $1.25 million. For the nine months through Sept. 30, net income fell 2.7%, to $3.5 million.

Nearly 11 months after DFCU Financial in Dearborn, Mich., announced plans to convert to a mutual savings bank - and six months since it withdrew the plan - the $1.8 billion-asset credit union and its members remain embroiled in a legal battle over an alleged bylaw violation.

Two years ago Heartland Financial USA Inc. in Dubuque, Iowa, laid out an ambitious plan: to double its assets every five to seven years.

Capitol Bancorp Ltd. of Lansing, Mich., has opened its 50th separately chartered bank subsidiary, Ohio Commerce Bank in Beachwood.

With Oregon's legislative session just two months away, bankers there want to remind lawmakers exactly what they have done for their communities lately.

El Banco Financial Corp.'s bid to become an independent banking company has hit a roadblock.

TCF Financial Corp. of Wayzata, Minn., announced that its TCF Bank Michigan has agreed to sell 10 branches to Independent Bank Corp. of Ionia, Mich.

Heartland Bancorp Inc. in Bloomington, Ill., announced Monday that it is buying the $346 million-asset First Federal Bancshares Inc. in Colchester, Ill., for about $28.6 million of cash.

Eastern Virginia Bankshares Inc. in Tappahannock has announced plans to offer 1 million shares of common stock to help finance loan growth.

Sterling Bancorp in New York said Friday that it swung to a $4.4 million loss in the third quarter, from a $6.3 million profit a year earlier.