The wave of Texas mergers and acquisitions in recent months could accelerate dealmaking among small banking companies and spawn a new generation of publicly traded ones, industry observers say.

J. Roger Moyer Jr., the president and chief executive officer of Sterling Financial Corp. in Lancaster, Pa., recognizes the power of words.

Ten Virginia banks bound by an unusual holding company structure are merging into a single bank that would be among the largest headquartered in the state.

Center Bancorp in Union, N.J., said Monday that second-quarter earnings fell 26% from the year-earlier quarter as a result of a balance-sheet restructuring earlier this year.

Habersham Bancorp in Cornelia, Ga., announced second-quarter earnings of $1.3 million, up nearly 56% from a year earlier. Per-share earnings rose 52%, to 44 cents.

C&F Financial Corp. of West Point, Va., announced Monday that it believes two former employees stole $2.2 million from its mortgage subsidiary.

Gardiner Savings Institution FSB in Maine has a deal to buy First Citizens Bank in Presque Isle for $20.8 million in cash.

With an efficiency ratio of 78.32%, Sun Bancorp Inc. in Vineland, N.J., has a lot of room for improvement — and a long way to go before impressing analysts.

Atlantic Southern Financial Group Inc. in Macon, Ga., has announced a deal to buy the $62 million-asset Sapelo Bancshares Inc. of Darien for $15.4 million in cash and stock.

MetroCorp Bancshares Inc. of Houston said its second-quarter earnings rose 22.5% compared with the same period last year, to $3.4 million.

First Financial Bancorp in Hamilton, Ohio, said second-quarter earnings fell 56% from a year earlier, to $4.4 million, because of costs associated with a restructuring.

Hurt by higher funding costs, Sterling Bancorp in New York said its second-quarter net income fell 20% from a year earlier, to $4.9 million.

State National Bancshares Inc. of Fort Worth said its second-quarter earnings rose 17.9% from a year earlier, to $4.6 million.

Pacific Capital Bancorp in Santa Barbara, Calif., said second-quarter earnings fell 20.2% from a year earlier, to $11.5 million, because of higher expenses and reduced margins.

Before Home Depot Inc. came along, EnerBank USA was a little-known niche lender that had just had its first profitable year.

After 119 years in business, Iberiabank of Lafayette, La., is taking its first steps outside its home state by acquiring the $736 million-asset Pocahontas Bancorp Inc., in Jonesboro, Ark.

Whitney Holding Corp., one of the Gulf Coast banking companies affected by last year's hurricanes, said storm-related loan and deposit growth boosted its second-quarter earnings, and so did an acquisition.

FNB Corp. of Christiansburg, Va., said its second quarter earnings rose 8.1% from the same period last year, to $4.73 million.

NB&T Financial Group Inc. in Wilmington, Ohio, is restructuring its balance sheet, selling a branch and exiting the indirect auto loan business.

About a year after his last start-up was sold in 2001, Mike Kowalski left banking to work for a friend’s property management company for a couple of years.