FirstFed Financial Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif., is warning investors that it expects to report losing $65 million to $75 million in the first quarter, or $4.50 to $5.50 per share, as chargeoffs mount in its portfolio of option adjustable-rate mortgages.

United Community Banks Inc. of Blairsville, Ga., said Thursday that its first-quarter earnings dropped nearly 17%, to $16.1 million, from the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share dropped 23%, to 34 cents, in line with analyst estimates.

Shares of AmericanWest Bancorp. of Spokane fell 28% in heavy trading Thursday, to $5.24, after the company reported a first-quarter loss of $31.6 million, or $1.83 a share, largely because of a goodwill impairment charge.

MIDWEST

Northeast Bancorp in Lewiston, Maine, has bought seven insurance agencies in the last 18 months, but its desire to increase fee income only half explains its motives.

Despite strong asset, loan, and deposit growth, Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc. in Arlington reported a sharp decline in first-quarter profits as asset quality continued to weaken.

Cascade Bancorp in Bend, Ore., announced Thursday that its first-quarter earnings fell 37% from a year earlier, to $6 million, and said an increase in its loan-loss provision was a big reason for the decline.

Shares of First Niagara Financial Group Inc.'s stock climbed 6.2% Thursday, to $13.90, after the company said first-quarter earnings were roughly even with a year earlier, at $18.8 million, or 18 cents a share.

So far this year Peoples Community Bancorp Inc. in West Chester, Ohio, has had its deal to be sold to an Indiana bank collapse and been slapped with an enforcement order that restricts its writing of new loans.

Few areas of the country have been as hard hit by the real estate downturn as Southern California's Inland Empire, and, in the last few months, some banks there that were active lenders to residential developers have seen their loan losses mount and their market values plummet.

BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., laid off 115 employees as part of its effort to cut costs and improve its efficiency ratio.

Whitney Holding Corp. in New Orleans said its first-quarter earnings decreased 19% from a year earlier, to $29.9 million, largely as a result of an increase in its loan-loss provision.

A contracting net interest margin and a higher provision for loan losses led to a down first quarter for Frontier Financial Corp. in Everett, Wash.

Sterling Bancshares Inc. in Houston reported Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings fell about 3% from a year earlier, to $11.6 million.

UMB Financial Corp. in Kansas City, Mo., said Tuesday that its first-quarter earnings jumped 82% from a year earlier, to a record $32.4 million.

Tax refund lending can be a high-risk business, but as Republic Bancorp Inc. in Louisville showed in the first quarter, it can also be a high-reward one.

With the volume of loans backed by the Small Business Administration slipping, community bankers are pressuring the agency to lower its fees and reduce the paperwork.

Wintrust Financial Corp. in Lake Forest, Ill., said Monday that first-quarter earnings fell 34% from a year earlier, to $9.7 million.

Higher net interest income helped boost S&T Bancorp Inc.'s first-quarter profit 12% from a year earlier, to $14.9 million.