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.

CVB Financial Corp. in Ontario, Calif., said fourth-quarter earnings fell, but full-year earnings set a record.

Superior Bancorp in Birmingham, Ala., announced it has agreed to buy the $323 million-asset People's Community Bancshares Inc. of Sarasota, Fla., for $77 million in stock.

Corus Bankshares Inc. achieved record earnings in 2006, but nonperforming loans are up, loan originations are down, and investors are getting nervous.

Umpqua Holdings Corp. of Portland, Ore., is continuing to bulk up in California by acquiring North Bay Bancorp in Napa for $156 million in stock.

Shares of Alliance Bankshares Corp. of Chantilly, Va., stock outperformed the Nasdaq bank index last year, and the research group at Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett Inc. expects the shares to continue to do so.

Provident Bankshares Corp. in Baltimore said Thursday that its fourth-quarter net income fell 41%, to $11.3 million, after a previously announced $5 million charge.

MIDWEST

Fulton Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., plans to continue to focus on organic growth this year but would consider an acquisition if the right deal came along, its top executive said Wednesday.

Blue Valley Ban Corp. of Overland Park, Kan., announced Wednesday that its fourth-quarter earnings rose 53% from a year earlier, to $2.1 million.

Camden National Bank in Maine has found that new branches take five to seven years to become profitable in its sparsely populated home state, so it has developed an alternate strategy for entering new markets: small-business financial centers.

LNB Bancorp Inc. in Lorain, Ohio, announced Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Morgan Bancorp Inc. of Hudson, Ohio, for $26.5 million in cash and stock.

Lafayette Federal Credit Union's abrupt decision to abandon its plan to convert to a bank is the second straight victory for the National Center for Member Trust, a little-known organization that helps mobilize opposition to credit union conversions.

The banking industry is getting a second chance to voice its opposition to a proposal that would broaden the Farm Credit System's lending authority.