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.

MIDWEST

Fulton Financial Corp. of Lancaster, Pa., swung to a loss of $102.3 million, or 58 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, from a profit of $38.2 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier.

One of the nation's top-performing community banking companies in 2007 is in danger of becoming the next Southern California failure.

With its economy in shambles, Florida would hardly seem like the place to start a bank these days.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. in Kansas City, Mo., said Tuesday that fourth-quarter earnings were flat with a year earlier, at $43.8 million, or 58 cents a share, as net interest income improved and credit quality deteriorated.

West Coast Bancorp in Lake Oswego, Ore., said it lost $8.2 million in the fourth quarter, as losses on loans for custom-built homes ballooned.

Pacific Continental Corp. in Eugene, Ore., said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings increased 15.9% from a year earlier, to $3.8 million. Earnings per share rose 14.3%, to 32 cents, beating analysts' estimates by a nickel.