AUSTIN — Three years after entering Texas, MidSouth Bancorp of Lafayette, La., plans to more than double its branch network with a big push in Houston.

A small South Carolina banking company is moving its headquarters from a rural setting to a more urban one to raise its profile with investors.

Coast Financial Holdings Inc. of Bradenton, Fla., said late Wednesday that it has hired the investment bank Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP to help the $676 million-asset company review its strategic options.

MIDWEST

WGNB Corp. of Carrollton, Ga., announced plans Tuesday to acquire the $205 million-asset First Haralson Corp. in Buchanan for $46.3 million in cash and stock.

The decision by Sun Bancorp Inc.'s board to part ways with chief executive Thomas A. Bracken had Wall Street debating both the progress of the company's turnaround effort and its future as an independent company.

Provident Financial Holdings Inc. in Riverside, Calif., reported a substantial drop in earnings, in part because of problem construction loans.

First Merit Corp. in Akron reported Tuesday that fourth-quarter earnings fell 78% from the same quarter a year earlier, to $6.1 million.

HMN Financial Inc. of Rochester, Minn., said fourth-quarter earnings fell 23% from the same quarter in 2005, to $2.7 million.

Wintrust Financial Corp., of Lake Forest, Ill., announced that its fourth-quarter earnings fell 20% from a year earlier, to $15 million.

BankUnited Financial Corp. in Coral Gables, Fla., announced Monday that earnings for its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 31, increased 69% from a year earlier, to $27.4 million.

Northwest Bancorp Inc. in Warren, Pa., said Monday that its fourth-quarter earnings fell nearly 34% from a year earlier, to $9.8 million.

Valley National Bancorp's plan for improving its lackluster earnings includes adding a dozen branches this year and funding riskier automobile, residential mortgage, and home equity loans and selling them on the secondary market.

Glacier Bancorp Inc. in Kalispell, Mont., said Monday that it is buying the 95-year-old North Side State Bank in Rock Springs, Wyo., for $28 million in cash and stock.

Midwest Banc Holdings Inc. of Melrose Park, Ill., said continuing problems collecting from a single borrower would reduce its fourth-quarter net income by $4 million, or 16 cents per diluted share.

Chittenden Corp. in Burlington, Vt., is expanding in Maine with its first deal in four years.

Coast Financial Holdings Inc.'s shares plunged nearly 25% Friday after the Bradenton, Fla., company warned that hundreds of its borrowers could have trouble repaying loans for construction of their new homes.

When Glenn Harvey took over as president of Los Angeles' Broadway Federal Bank in April of last year, he brought more than his two decades of experience to the $284 million-asset thrift.