Washington Federal Inc. of Seattle said Thursday that its earnings fell 0.3%, to $36.1 million, in the first quarter of its 2006 fiscal year compared with the year-earlier period.

Heritage Oaks Bancorp in Paso Robles, Calif., reported fourth-quarter profit of $1.8 million, up 34% from a year earlier.

Just before Christmas break a Tennessee banker asked the superintendents of three Memphis-area school districts to send a letter to the families of students who had streamed into the area in flight from Hurricane Katrina.

MIDWEST

Mercantile Bank Corp. of Grand Rapids said the costs of entering Lansing and Ann Arbor slowed its fourth-quarter earnings growth, but it reported healthy growth in loans and deposits in both new markets.

Cathay General Bancorp of Los Angeles made a formal offer for Great Eastern Bank of New York on Tuesday, and analysts predicted that Great Eastern will take it.

Preliminary figures for the U.S. Small Business Administration's flagship 7(a) lending program indicate that the agency guaranteed fewer loans for less money during the October-to-December quarter than it did a year earlier, according to Rep. Nydia M. Velazquez.

The Farm Credit Administration has changed the rule on the makeup of Farm Credit System lenders' boards.

Summit Financial Group Inc. in Moorefield, W.Va., said Monday that it has taken a $1.5 million impairment charge against its fourth-quarter earnings because it cannot accurately project the recovery period for preferred securities stock it owns that have declined in value.

Provident Bankshares Corp. of Baltimore has started a pilot program to win more business from the Washington area’s growing Hispanic market.

Cathay General Bancorp may be close to clinching its hard-fought deal for Great Eastern Bank in New York City.

Texas' banking commissioner has asked state-chartered banks there to consider adjusting loan terms and extending maturities for borrowers affected by the recent wildfires.

Few banking companies have the kind of war chest Hudson City Bancorp of Paramus, N.J., does.

James M. Anderson has been promoted to chief financial officer of the $1.6 billion-asset MainSource Financial Group Inc. of Greensburg, Ind.

Marquette National Corp. of Chicago has agreed to buy Hemlock Federal Financial Corp. of Oak Forest, Ill., for about $51.3 million in cash.

It was a family affair when First Citizens Financial Corp. of Mason City, Iowa, bought Kanabec Credit Co. of Mora, Minn., about 200 miles away.

Banks and thrifts structured as S corporations could suddenly start looking more attractive to potential buyers.