A day after reiterating its interest in doing deals in Florida, North Carolina, and the Georgia coast, South Financial Group Inc. followed through.

Carver Bancorp Inc. of New York, said Thursday that net income for its second quarter, which ended Sept. 30, fell 69%, to $434,000, largely because of expenses related to its failed attempt to buy Washington's Independence Federal Bancorp.

Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., reported Thursday that third-quarter earnings were 54% higher than a year earlier, at $18.2 million.

Maryland community banks finally have a bankers' bank to call their own.

Tompkins Trustco Inc., a three-bank holding company in Ithaca, N.Y., said Wednesday that net income in the third quarter was up 9.8% from a year earlier, to $6.8 million.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. in San Antonio reported third-quarter profit up 9.8% from a year earlier, to $36 million,.

Aid to a newly bought company and a summer hiring spree combined to make North Fork Bancorp miss Wall Street's target for third-quarter earnings by a penny.

Frustrated that its town had nary a bank branch, a citizens committee in Patoka, Ind., earlier this year invited Casey State Bank in Illinois to open an office in a branch vacated by Union Planters Corp. in 2001.

MIDWEST

Prosperity Bancshares Inc.'s $135.7 million, all-stock deal for FirstCapital Bankers Inc. of Corpus Christi links a cost-cutting buyer with a target that has plenty to cut, according to analysts.

South Financial Group, which is trying to become a southeastern midcap banking company, plans to remain independent for at least the next five to 10 years.

BankUnited Financial Corp. of Coral Gables, Fla., said its net income, buoyed by strong loan growth, set records for its fourth fiscal quarter and its fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.

Commercial Federal Corp. of Omaha said Tuesday that its third-quarter earnings fell 7% from the same quarter last year, to $20.2 million.

Bowing to the inevitable, Carver Bancorp Inc. of New York and Independence Federal Savings Bank of Washington announced Tuesday that they had agreed to terminate their $30 million merger deal.

About midsemester, when students got antsy, I enjoyed taking a half-hour out of my banking courses to teach them how to steal from a bank.

First Financial Bankshares Inc. in Abilene, Tex., plans to buy Clyde Financial Corp. for $25.4 million in cash.

Banks with branches in supermarkets operated by the Kroger, Safeway, and Albertsons chains are bracing for strikes this fall in Cincinnati, Denver, and northern California.

Rurban Financial Corp.'s third-quarter earnings rose 250% from a year earlier, to $699,000, up 250%.

Premier Valley Bank in Fresno plans to expand along the border of Yosemite National Park by buying a community bank for $28 million in cash.