Southside Bancshares Inc. of Tyler, Texas, said that its second-quarter profits rose 18% from same period a year earlier, to $11.5 million, and that earnings per share increased 19.6%, to 67 cents.

With loan demand still weak in many areas of the country, more and more bankers are starting to believe that their banks will need to merge with other institutions to achieve meaningful growth.

Analysts at Sandler O'Neill & Partners have raised earnings estimates for City National Corp. after the Los Angeles company reported strong second-quarter earnings growth that was aided by improved asset quality and "promising" gains in its commercial-and-industrial loan portfolio.

The $22 billion-asset company reported net income available to shareholders of $25.6 million, compared to $15.4 million in the first quarter and a net loss of $10.2 million a year earlier.

Aided by improved credit quality and strong loan and deposit growth, Prosperity Bancshares Inc. in Houston reported earnings of $35.1 million in the second quarter, up 10.5% from the same quarter in 2010.

MB Financial Inc., which took an aggressive stance on its credit by purging bad loans, reported a $10 million net loss available for shareholders during the second quarter.

Despite having negative equity, Albina Community Bancorp in Portland, Ore., managed to turn a profit for a second quarter in a row.

Last month, Hancock closed its all-stock takeover of Whitney in a deal valued at $1.3 billion.

WASHINGTON — House Republicans celebrated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's first day by advancing a bill that would dilute the bureau's authority.

TCF Financial Corp. in Wayzata, Minn., reported earnings of $29.8 million in the second quarter, down 33% from a year earlier, as the company grapples with ways to replace fee income.

SVB Financial Group said Thursday that its second quarter earnings more than tripled what it made a year earlier, to $65.8 million.

Hingham Institution for Savings in Massachusetts said Thursday that its second-quarter net income rose 22.6% to $3 million, from a year earlier, on growth of both deposits and loans.

Simmons First National Corp. in Pine Bluff, Ark., said Thursday that core earnings in the second quarter declined 4.6% from the same period last year, to $6.2 million.

The Federal Reserve on Thursday announced that it had entered into a written agreement with a banking company while also disclosing the termination of a prior order.

On the one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, Democratic lawmakers and key financial regulators called on Congress to resist Republican efforts to cut funding to implement and enforce the law's sweeping new regulations.

VIST Financial Corp. in Wyomissing, Pa., notified investors Thursday that it is planning to raise up to $30 million in a stock offering.

The Treasury Department has ordered board appointments to two banking companies that have missed dividend payments on its bailout investments.

The Small Business Jobs Act set aside a $30 billion fund designed for smaller banks to lend to small business owners when it passed last September.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc. said Thursday that second quarter net earnings rose 32%, to $8.3 million, compared with a year earlier after it slashed its provision by 80%.

Retailers will have better results observing customer behavior and basing their sales strategy upon that evidence than if they try to stay ahead of the curve by predicting what consumers want or will want in the future.