It took a lot of arm-twisting for Happy State Bank in Texas to agree to buy a trust company that specializes in issuing bonds for church construction, but it took to the business so much that it bought a second one, and it does not plan to stop there.

FirstFed Financial Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif., said Friday that third-quarter earnings fell 29%, to $23 million, due to lower net interest income, losses on real estate operations and higher operating costs.

Two of the top positions at the Texas Savings and Mortgage Department will be vacant soon.

Premier Financial Bancorp Inc. of Huntington, W.Va., has a deal to buy Citizens First Bank Inc. of Ravenswood for $11.7 million.

Allegiance Bank Texas in Houston opened for business only a week ago and already appears to have a rivalry brewing with Sterling Bancshares Inc.

Weeks after closing on another bank acquisition, Porter Bancorp Inc. of Louisville said Thursday that it has an agreement to acquire Paramount Bank in Lexington, Ky., for about $5 million in cash from Blue River Bancshares Inc. of Shelbyville, Ind.

A Pennsylvania start-up that opened for business last week already has a deal to sell itself.

Two Korean-American banking companies in Los Angeles reported third-quarter earnings declines as a result of decisions to stop selling Small Business Administration loans on the secondary market.

United Bankshares Inc. said Thursday that its third-quarter earnings rose 81% from the same period last year, to $25.8 million.

Stung this year by significant losses in its mortgage portfolio, OceanFirst Financial Corp. of Toms River, N.J., showed signs of recovery in the third quarter.

Shares of Hanmi Financial Corp. plunged Wednesday after the Los Angeles banking company announced it would delay the release of its third-quarter earnings and that it expects a decline in net income due to credit losses.

Quaint Oak Bancorp Inc. of Southampton, Pa., said late Tuesday that it would ask the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for permission to repurchase up to 5% of its stock.

One reason some community banks shy away from using the Small Business Administration's loan programs is that it often takes months to collect on the government guarantee if a borrower defaults.

MIDWEST

TIB Financial Corp. of Naples, Fla., said Wednesday that its third-quarter earnings declined 71% from a year earlier, to $494,000, or 4 cents a share.

Provident Financial Holdings Inc. in Riverside, Calif., said Tuesday that its earnings in its first fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30, fell 86% from a year earlier, to $758,000, because of a slowdown in mortgage originations and weak demand for its mortgages in the secondary market.

A $31.2 million pretax gain from an insurance settlement cushioned Whitney Holding Corp.'s earnings against deteriorating credit quality in the third quarter and sent its profits up 39% from a year earlier, to $48.8 million.

Shares of PFF Bancorp Inc. plunged to a six-year low Tuesday on news that the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., lost $7.5 million in its fiscal second quarter, which ended Sept. 30, as a result of continued deterioration in credit quality.

A small Canadian insurance brokerage is suing to force First Niagara Financial Group Inc. of Lockport, N.Y., to change its name.

Wintrust Financial Corp.'s shares plunged to a 52-week low Monday after the Lake Forest, Ill., company reported that its third-quarter earnings fell 33% from the year earlier, to $9.9 million. Earnings per share fell 29%, to 40 cents.