Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio, reported a fourth-quarter profit of $10.9 million, or 77 cents a share, despite higher credit losses in its Florida loan portfolio.

An activist investor known for pressuring bankers to sell their companies is threatening to wage a proxy fight against Southern Connecticut Bancorp Inc. if it fails to find a buyer soon.

Provident Bankshares Corp. in Baltimore said Tuesday that it lost $26.7 million, or 88 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, mainly due to a $32.7 million pretax impairment charge on certain securities and a doubling of its loan-loss provision from a year earlier, to $21.5 million.

In these turbulent times, with some banks being swallowed up by healthier competitors and others disappearing altogether, it is vitally important that banks develop deeper insights into their work forces.

Sterling Bancorp of New York said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income fell 4.8% from a year earlier, to $4 million, primarily because of a slowdown in mortgage originations, but it was a strong quarter by most other measures.

Herbert L. Hornsby Jr., the president and chief executive of Cape Bancorp Inc. in Cape May Courthouse, N.J., abruptly resigned Tuesday, a day after the company announced a large increase in its provision for loan losses and said it was delaying the release of its earnings as it considered goodwill impairment charges related to a 2008 acquisition.

Swamped by a surge in problem loans, Sierra Bancorp in Porterville, Calif., swung to a loss in the fourth quarter.

Despite strong loan growth, First Commonwealth Financial Corp. in Indiana, Pa., said its fourth-quarter profits fell 24% from a year earlier, to $8.9 million, as it boosted its provision for loan losses and wrote down the value of its securities portfolio.

In many respects, PrivateBancorp Inc.'s 15-month-old initiative to transform itself into the Chicago region's premier middle-market lender is working. Client deposits grew by $1 billion in the fourth quarter alone, total loans have roughly doubled in the last year, and fee income is soaring.

Capital City Bank Group Inc. in Tallahassee, Fla., said Monday that it lost $1.7 million in the fourth quarter, or 10 cents per diluted share, as a result of increases in chargeoffs and nonperforming loans.

AmTrust Bank in Cleveland said Friday that it is selling five branches in Columbus, Ohio, because it needs to raise capital to satisfy regulators.

United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville, Ga., reported a fourth-quarter loss of $46.7 million, or 99 cents per share, as problem loans to home builders piled up.

Cathleen H. Nash will have her work cut out for her when she takes over as chief executive at Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. in Flint, Mich., next month.

PacWest Bancorp in San Diego said Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 43% from a year earlier, to $9.6 million, as a result of higher credit costs.

Despite management's best efforts to clean up the loan portfolio, credit problems accelerated in the fourth quarter at Amcore Financial Inc. of Rockford, Ill.

National Bank of Commerce in Berkeley, Ill., was an anomaly among bank failures, given its decent credit quality.

A commonly calculated measure of bank productivity is the efficiency ratio: noninterest expense/(net interest income + noninterest income).

Citing trouble with its leasing portfolio, Lakeland Bancorp Inc. in Oak Ridge, N.J., said Thursday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 73% from a year earlier, to $889,000, or 4 cents a share.

Shares of Hancock Holding Co. fell 16.5% Wednesday, to $27.57, after the Gulfport, Miss., company reported that fourth-quarter earnings fell 50% from a year earlier, to $8.3 million.

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