Pacific Premier Bancorp Inc. in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Tuesday reported that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 63% from a year earlier, to $2.6 million, largely due to the purchase of a failed bank.

FirstMerit Corp. in Akron, Ohio, reported Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 13% from a year earlier, to $30.5 million, largely due to lower credit costs.

Synovus Financial Corp. swung to a profit in the fourth quarter after sharply reduced funds held for risky loans helped the regional lender report its second straight quarter in the black.

Regions Financial Corp. swung to a fourth-quarter loss, with the regional lender booking a hefty write-down following a long-planned deal to sell its brokerage unit.

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Redwood Trust is starting to feel like the Maytag repairman of the jumbo mortgage-backed securities market.

KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Eastman CU plans to open a new branch location in the Fresh Market shopping center in Johnson City.

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. – Teachers FCU, Long Island’s biggest credit union, opened its new headquarters and branch to the public last week.

RENTON, Wash. – Alaska USA FCU announced it is opening its first branches in Olympia and Port Orchard, giving the $4.7-billion Anchorage, Alaska-based credit union 19 branches in Washington.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Secure First CU lost at least half its roof and at least one other credit union was temporarily without power here yesterday after severe storms that killed at least two people and injured more than 100 moved across central Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee early Monday morning. One credit union employee also lost their home.

Fueled by a lower provision for loan losses and rising net interest income, Cathay General Bancorp's profits surged more than 68% in the fourth quarter, to $23.6 million, from a year earlier.

SunTrust Banks Inc. has acquired FirstAgain LLC, an online lender that targets superprime borrowers.

Tom Miller's statement Monday came amid growing speculation that an agreement is close.

Zions Bancorporation's fourth-quarter earnings fell short of analysts' estimates as vastly improved asset quality could not offset declining interest income and a sharp drop in fee income.

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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.

Magyar Bank in New Brunswick, N.J., the principal subsidiary of Magyar Bancorp, disposed of $6.3 million in real estate owned assets last year.

Caliber Funding LLC in Irving, Texas, is talking with several loan officers and support staff who worked at MetLife Home Loans and may wind up hiring upward of 300 full-timers, according to officials familiar with the situation.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission said Monday they have signed an agreement to coordinate their rulemaking and enforcement activities.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. in Warren, Pa., said Monday that its fourth-quarter profits climbed 19%, to $15.2 million, from a year earlier as credit quality improved and fee income from trust and insurance services rose.