Americas

Hancock Holding Co.'s fourth-quarter results included hefty costs associated with buying Whitney Holding Corp.

SVB Financial Group's fourth-quarter net income was more than double what it earned a year earlier, at $35.6 million.

Glacier Bancorp Inc. in Kalispell, Mont., reported higher earnings after it purged bad loans off its books.

Chemical Financial Corp. in Midland, Mich., reported that its fourth-quarter profit rose 49% from a year earlier, to $11.2 million, because a lower loan-loss provision.

Tennessee has managed to escape the downturn relatively unscathed, and hasn't had a bank fail since 2002. But a new crop of undercapitalized banks and other strugglers have put 10% of the state's banks at some risk of failure.

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

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The NCUA Board this morning approved the proposed merger of Tennessee's Volunteer Corporate CU with West Virginia Corporate CU, accelerating the pace of the corporate restructuring.

Valley National Bancorp in Wayne, N.J., announced that fourth quarter earnings fell after several special charges.

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

The Ithaca, N.Y., bank has been scouting for deals and said Thursday it has agreed to buy VIST Financial in southeastern Pennsylvania for $86 million in stock.