Earnings season is still young, but last week’s reports make it clear some banking companies are finding deposits harder to come by and are either paying more for them or going to the wholesale markets to fund loans.

FFLC Bancorp Inc. of Leesburg, Fla., said Friday that first-quarter earnings increased 29% from a year earlier, to $2.3 million.

First Niagara Financial Group Inc. in Lockport, N.Y., reported a 77% jump in first-quarter earnings from a year earlier, to $21.1 million, largely because of its Jan. 14 purchase of Hudson River Bancorp.

WASHINGTON — Proposed legislation that would eliminate a significant obstacle to credit union consolidation went unopposed during a House subcommittee hearing last week.

PrivateBancorp Inc. of Chicago is buying Bloomfield Hills Bancorp Inc. in Michigan for $64 million in cash.

Houston's Prosperity Bancshares Inc. said Friday that first-quarter earning rose 31% from a year earlier, to a record $10.6 million - the first time its quarterly profit exceeded $10 million.

Two acquisitions last year helped boost first-quarter earnings at the $2.8 billion-asset First Community Bancorp of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Republic Bancorp Inc. of Louisville reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income rose 20% from a year earlier, to $13.3 million.

Hudson United Bancorp in Mahwah, N.J., said Thursday that it would post earnings of 66 cents a share when it releases its first-quarter results April 25.

Call it the Commerce effect.

Rurban Financial Corp. of Defiance, Ohio, has agreed to buy Exchange Bancshares Inc. of Luckey, Ohio, for $12.9 million in cash and stock.

MIDWEST

PNC Financial Service Group Inc. is not wasting any time making its mark in the Washington area.

New Alliance Bancorp in New Haven, Conn., has a deal to acquire Cornerstone Bancorp Inc. of Stamford for $48.7 million in stock and cash.

Commerce Bancshares Inc. of Kansas City, Mo., reported Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 3% from a year earlier, to $49.8 million.

Strong loan and deposit growth helped PremierWest Bancorp in Medford, Ore., earn $2.6 million in the first quarter, 44% more than a year earlier.

If the first quarter is any indication, 2005 could go down as the slowest year for bank acquisitions since the early 1990s.

My favorite Ann Landers column is about the girl who writes that she has not asked her boyfriend to help pay for her birth-control pills, because “I don’t know him well enough to talk about money.”

First Dakota National Bank in Yankton, S.D., is teaming up with Cargill Inc. to offer farm loans with a built-in hedge against swings in commodity prices.