MIDDLE ATLANTIC

Colony Bankcorp Inc. in Fitzgerald, Ga., said its fourth-quarter earnings fell 71% from a year earlier, to $752,000, missing analysts' expectations by a wide margin.

State-chartered banks in South Dakota could soon get the same authority to branch as freely within the state as their national bank counterparts.

Macatawa Bank Corp. in Holland, Mich., lost nearly as much money in the fourth quarter of 2007 as it made in the year-earlier period.

Suffolk Bancorp in Riverhead, N.Y., said Tuesday that fourth-quarter and 2007 earnings were basically flat when compared with the year earlier.

The decision by several large banks to boost automated teller machine fees charged to noncustomers has prompted a widespread reconsideration by community banks of their own ATM policies.

Park National Corp. in Newark, Ohio, announced late Tuesday that it would take a $54 million goodwill impairment charge for the fourth quarter because of the deteriorating loan portfolio of a Florida bank it acquired last year.

FirstFed Financial Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif., said Tuesday that it expects to record a loan-loss provision of $20 million to $23 million for the fourth quarter — up from $4.5 million at Sept. 30 — because of rising customer delinquencies on adjustable-rate mortgages that have recently reset.

West Suburban Bancorp Inc. in Lombard, Ill., has a deal to acquire G.R. Bancorp Ltd., the holding company that owns more than 80% of First National Bank of Grand Ridge in Illinois, for $5.7 million in cash.

Ohio Valley Banc Corp. in Gallipolis announced Monday that it earned $1 million in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared with just $16,000 in the fourth quarter of 2006.

AUSTIN — Compared with past years, 2007 was a slow one for bank mergers and acquisitions in Texas, but when compared with the rest of the country, activity there actually was quite brisk.

Don’t tell Danvers Bancorp Inc. that demand for thrift stocks is weak these days.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. in Honolulu announced Friday that its fourth-quarter earnings would come in well below expectations, largely because of continued weakness in its California construction lending portfolio.

Massachusetts community banker John H. Pearson Jr. could not be happier about the pending sale of Countrywide Financial Corp.

Provident Bankshares Corp. in Baltimore is expected to report a fourth-quarter loss Thursday as a result of a large writedown in its real estate investment trust portfolio and weakness in its real estate loan portfolio.

Savannah Bancorp Inc. in Georgia said Thursday that its loan-loss provision in the fourth quarter was six times higher than anticipated due to a surge in nonperforming loans.

William A. Donius, the president and chief executive officer of Pulaski Financial Corp. in St. Louis, is joining the Federal Reserve Board's Thrift Advisory Council, the company has announced.

Jack Treanor, the president and chief operating officer of Washington Trust Bancorp Inc., said he believes in making bold changes.

MIDWEST

Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc. in Norfolk, Va., announced Wednesday that it has a deal to buy Shore Financial Corp. in Onley, Va., for about $55 million in cash and stock.