Washington

Problem loans continue to haunt Riverview Bancorp (RVSB). The Vancouver, Wash., company on Friday restated its results from last quarter and increased its loan-loss provision for the third time in recent months.

Activist investor Joseph Stilwell is not winning much outside support in his bid to force changes at First Financial Northwest (FFNW) in Renton, Wash.

Sterling Financial (STSA) said after markets closed Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose 146% from the same period last year, to $13.3 million, due primarily to a growth in loan balances, lower funding costs and improved asset quality.

Solid revenue growth and continued improvement in credit quality led Banner Corporation (BANR) in Walla Walla, Wash., to its most profitable quarter in at least five years.

South Valley Bancorp would more than double its sale price if it collects in full on a pool of suspect business loans before its takeover by Washington Federal is completed.

Sound Financial in Seattle turned a smaller profit in 2011 than it first reported after its auditors advised it to set aside additional funds for potential loan losses.

AmericanWest Bank in Spokane, Wash., is deepening its presence in California with plans to acquire Security Business Bank of San Diego.

Activist investor Joseph Stilwell wants the company to find a seller a month after one of his representatives quit the board.

HomeStreet Inc.'s chief financial officer is resigning at the end of the month after helping the once-battered Seattle banking company recapitalize.

A year and a half after completing its recapitalization, Sterling Financial Corp. in Spokane, Wash., has been released from an enforcement order with the Federal Reserve Board.

Sterling Financial Corp. of Spokane, Wash., has laid off 6% of its full-time employees as it works to reach an ambitious efficiency ratio goal by 2013.

The $77.6 million HomeStreet Inc. expects to raise in its initial public offering would go a long way toward improving its capital levels but not far enough to satisfy a regulatory order.

Columbia Banking System Inc. in Tacoma, Wash., and an aggressive buyer of failed banks, rode those acquisitions to a strong fourth quarter.

Sterling Financial Corp. in Spokane, Wash., returned to the black for the year as credit quality improved.

First Independent Bank has notified employees whose jobs will be eliminated after the Vancouver, Wash., bank is sold to Sterling Financial Corp. of Spokane, Wash.

The deal between Sterling Financial and First Independent, both of Washington state, relies on a complex carve-out from a bank holding company. Creative maneuvers are needed these days, but this model isn't for everyone.

The Spokane, Wash., bank added a chapter to its comeback story Monday in agreeing to buy the banking operations of an instate rival.

Sterling Financial Corp.'s shares jumped 11% Wednesday, to close at $15.02, after the once-embattled Spokane, Wash., company reported its highest quarterly profit in nearly four years.

Anchor Bancorp's losses widened in the third quarter, though the Lacey, Wash.-based company shrunk its nonperforming assets.

Washington Federal Inc. in Seattle said Thursday that profits in its fiscal-year fourth quarter nearly doubled from a year earlier as its volume of problem loans continued to shrink.