Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 4% from a year earlier, to $15.6 million.

Whitney Holding Corp. in New Orleans announced Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 11% from a year earlier, to $30.2 million, because of a surge in nonperforming loans.

Amid a deluge of steep profit declines and losses this earnings season, Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. of San Antonio reported profit increases for the fourth quarter and the year.

United Community Banks Inc. in Blairsville, Ga., said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 78% from a year earlier, to $4.2 million. Earnings per share fell 80%, to 9 cents.

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First Midwest Bancorp Inc. in Itasca, Ill., announced Wednesday that it lost $5.4 million, or 11 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter.

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Fourth-quarter earnings at Pennsylvania Commerce Bancorp Inc. in Harrisburg grew 62% from a year earlier, to $2.5 million, on strong loan growth, the company said on Tuesday.

Southwest Bancorp Inc. of Stillwater, Okla., said Tuesday that a shrinking net interest margin and higher expenses cut its fourth-quarter profit by 31% from a year earlier, to $4.5 million.

Patapsco Bancorp Inc. in Dundlak, Md., said Tuesday that higher expenses and trouble with a large loan slashed earnings for the quarter ending Dec. 31 by 82% from the year earlier, to $64,000.

Citing improved credit quality, FirstMerit Corp. of Akron said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter earnings more than quadrupled from a year earlier, to $31.5 million.

First Community Bancorp of San Diego said Tuesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 25.1% from a year earlier, to $17 million, mainly because of a loan-loss provision and a decline in loan yields.

Capital City Bank Group Inc. of Tallahassee, Fla., said Tuesday that a spike in chargeoffs contributed to a 13.5% decline in its fourth-quarter net income, to $7.7 million.

With deep-pocketed owners and a posse of aggressive bankers on its payroll, First Chicago Bank and Trust in Itasca, Ill., says it is on a fast track to at least triple in size over the next five years.

Cape Savings Bank's plan to go public and buy Boardwalk Bancorp Inc. is turning into a nail-biter.

Community Bankshares Inc. in Orangeburg, S.C., said Friday that its Community Resource Bank is shuttering its wholesale mortgage brokerage business.

Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville reported Friday that its fourth-quarter net income rose 8% from a year earlier, to $6.4 million.

First Financial Holdings Inc. in Charleston, S.C., said Thursday that earnings for its fiscal 2008 first quarter fell 50%, to $2.9 million, because of costs associated with a new early-retirement program and higher loan-loss reserves.

The $4.5 billion-asset Westamerica Bancorp in San Rafael, Calif., said its fourth-quarter earnings fell 8.9% from a year earlier, to $21.8 million, because of a decline in average earning assets and legal fees connected with litigation against Visa Inc.