AmericanWest Bancorp., the Spokane-based parent of AmericanWest Bank, posted solid gains in deposits and loans last year and saw its assets crest the $1 billion mark.


Separately, AmericanWest plans this year to open a branch office in Post Falls, to replace a modular bank-branch building in Hayden, and to move a branch that shares a building with its North Side headquarters building to a new structure it will build nearby.


For the fourth quarter, the bank-holding company reported net income of $3.5 million, or 36 cents a diluted share, compared with net income of $2.9 million, or 33 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. For the year, the bank posted net income of $14 million, or $1.34 a share, up 28 percent from net income of $10.9 million, or $1.10 a share, in 2002.


As of Dec. 31, AmericanWests assets totaled $1.02 billion, compared with $916.8 million a year earlier. Total loans as of year-end were $876.4 million, up 13 percent from $775.6 million a year earlier, while deposits grew 14 percent over the year to $871.1 million, from $776.3 million.


2003 was a successful year for AmericanWest that included the integration of Bank of Latah, the opening of four new branches, and improved profitability, said Wes Colley, president and CEO, in a statement. We are looking forward to 2004 as we explore opportunities to strengthen our profitability and continue to grow.


AmericanWest Bank operates a total of 44 bank-branch and lending-office locations in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. It acquired the Bank of Latah in the third quarter of 2002, adding eight branches and $128 million in assets to its system. AmericanWest has 363 full-time equivalent employees companywide.


The banks net interest income jumped about 29 percent last year to $56.8 million, from $44.1 million in 2002. It attributed the increase to the Bank of Latah acquisition, internal growth, and a lower cost of funds.


Its noninterest expenses rose 27 percent in 2003, due partly to the Bank of Latah acquisition and partly to increased incentive compensation, the bank says. The banks return on assets and return on equitytwo key performance measures in the banking industryboth improved during the year.


We continue to consolidate back room operations to improve productivity and efficiency throughout our organization, Colley said in the statement.


Total nonperforming assets decreased to $19.9 million, or 1.95 percent of assets, in 2003, from $21.4 million, or 2.34 percent of assets, in 2002.


Duane Brandenberg, president of AmericanWests northwest region, says the bank plans in June or July to start work on a new bank-branch building in Hayden to replace a branch thats located in a modular building there.


The bank also plans by next fall to begin building a branch office in Post Falls, on property it has purchased at the northeast corner of state Route 41 and Inverness Drive.


About that same time, AmericanWest hopes to start work on a stand-alone branch office in front of the ShopKo Stores Inc. outlet in Northpointe Plaza here, Brandenberg says. The bank will move its nearby bank branch out of the companys headquarters building at 9506 N. Newport Highway, he says, making more room for administrative operations there. It also likely will expand its headquarters building.


All of those projects are in the early stages of planning, and no further details are available yet.


Meanwhile, AmericanWest expects sometime in the next six weeks to move its downtown Spokane branch into a new office structure thats nearing completion at Riverside Avenue and Browne Street. Once that occurs, Brandenberg says, the current downtown branch space might be used for the banks real estate lending operations.