Asset quality might be paramount, but there are other things sellers need to consider as they seek to attract buyers. The list includes avoiding long-term contracts, trimming expenses and retaining key employees.

The Federal Reserve Board has terminated a written agreement with North Valley Bancorp (NOVB) in response to the Redding, Calif., company's improved financial condition.

Bar Harbor Bankshares (BHB) in Maine is getting some love from analysts following its record earnings performance in the first quarter.

When I see my name in print included alongside names like Sheila Bair, Tom Hoenig, Richard Fisher, and Simon Johnson, I take notice.

United Community Banks (UCBI) in Blairsville, Ga., reported a profit of $8.5 million in the first quarter as lower expenses and 31% jump in fee-based revenues from the prior year more than offset slightly weakening asset quality.

Central Pacific Financial (CPF) said Thursday that first-quarter earnings rose 191% from a year earlier, to $13.5 million, as it reduced nonperforming assets and decreased the amount of chargeoffs.

Sun Bancorp (SNBC) has more than doubled the size of its New Jersey home mortgage team by hiring 50 former MetLife (MET) employees for its residential lending division.

American Banker apparently feels duty-bound to publish a story whenever it learns of a credit union that is not supporting the industry’s effort to enact legislation raising the cap that now constrains credit unions' ability to lend to small businesses ("Third Credit Union Dissents on Business Lending Bill," April 23).

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 a continued decline in problem loans helped boost Trustmark's first-quarter profit by 27% over the same period last year, to $30.3 million.

Smaller banks are struggling to keep efficiency ratios down, forcing many bankers to look at closing more branches and laying off more employees.

Buoyed by stronger credit quality and higher mortgage banking income, Lakeland Financial (LKFN) of Warsaw, Ind., reported record first-quarter income of $8.6 million, up 45% from a year earlier.

A surge in mortgage lending combined with improved asset quality and expense control led the embattled First Mariner Bancorp in Baltimore to its first profitable quarter in more than five years for the quarter that ended March 31.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR) in San Antonio posted record profits in the first quarter as strong deposit growth and sharply improved asset quality more than offset a declining net interest margin and a dip in fee income.

Twitter and Facebook audiences are tough nuts to crack, but the social media channel posing the biggest challenge to banks may be YouTube.

Shares of Sun Bancorp (SNBC) plunged early Wednesday after the Vineland, N.J., company reported a wider-than-expected loss in the first quarter due to ongoing weakness in its loan portfolio.

EverBank Financial finally set a price for a planned $225 million capital raise after sitting on its initial public offering for half a year.

PremierWest Bancorp's losses widened in the first quarter as problem loans continued to drag down results as the Medford, Ore., company.

BancorpSouth (BXS) of Tupelo, Miss., is coming off its strongest quarter in two years as improved asset quality and modest growth in fee income more than offset declining loan revenue.