A handful of publicly-traded banks serving the Inland Northwest reported mixed results for the third quarter, with most describing a challenging market.

A couple of bank holding companies said acquisitions bolstered quarterly earnings, while some boasted organic growth.

Sterling Bank

Sterling Financial Corp., the Spokane-based parent of Sterling Bank, reported on Oct. 23 third-quarter net income of $21 million, or 33 cents a diluted share, compared with $30.6 million, or 49 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Greg Seibly, Sterling's president and CEO, said in a press release, "Our third-quarter operating results reflect a substantial reduction in mortgage banking activity and elevated merger-related expenses. With the exception of these two items, our core banking performance was solid. We continued to expand loans, reduce funding costs, and improve asset-quality metrics."

While its earnings declined for the quarter, Sterling's total deposits and total assets increased in the third quarter, compared with a year earlier.

As of Sept. 30, Sterling had $6.9 billion in total deposits, up from $6.7 billion a year earlier. The company's total assets on Sept. 30 were $10 billion, up from $9.5 billion a year earlier.

Sterling announced last month that it will merge with Umpqua Holdings Corp., of Portland. That merger is expected to be completed in mid-2014, pending regulatory approval.

Northwest Bancorp

Northwest Bancorporation Inc., the Spokane-based holding company of Inland Northwest Bank, announced on Oct. 30 third-quarter net income of $708,000, or 22 cents a diluted share, up from $229,000, or 7 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

The company said in a press release that this marks its seventh consecutive quarter of operating at a profit.

INB's net loans increased to $291.4 million as of Sept. 30 from $259.1 million a year earlier.

Randall L. Fewel, president and CEO of both the holding company and the bank, said in the release, "We were fortunate to hire a three-person lending team early in the year, and they have been successful in building their loan portfolio at INB."

While loans increased, total assets remained largely unchanged, and total deposits decreased.

As of Sept. 30, the company reported total assets of $393.5 million, down slightly from $394.9 million in assets a year earlier. Its total deposits fell about $10 million, to $330.3 million on Sept. 30 from $340.6 million a year earlier.

Headquartered in downtown Spokane, the company has seven branches in the Spokane area and four in Kootenai County.

Intermountain

Intermountain Community Bancorp, the Sandpoint-based holding company for Intermountain Community Bank and Panhandle State Bank, reported on Oct. 24 third-quarter net income of $1.5 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, up from income of $343,000, or 5 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

The bank company said in its earnings report that reductions in interest, operating, and loan-loss provision expenses drove the year-over-year improvement.

Intermountain CEO Curt Hecker said in the release, "We continue to see steady growth in our regional markets despite uneven economic growth and external volatility."

As of Sept. 30, Intermountain reported net loans of $520.2 million, up from $502.9 million a year earlier. Total deposits, however, fell to $711.1 million as of Sept. 30 from $722.1 million a year earlier. Total assets decreased to $923.8 million at the end of the quarter, compared with total assets of $953.3 million a year earlier.

Intermountain Community Bank Washington, a subsidiary of Panhandle State Bank, operates branches in downtown Spokane and Spokane Valley.

Banner Bank

Banner Corp., the Walla Walla-based parent of Banner Bank and Islanders Bank, reported on Oct. 23 third-quarter net income of $11.7 million, or 60 cents a diluted share, down from $15.2 million, or 79 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Mark J. Grescovich, Banner's president and CEO, says in a press release that company was able to continue to operate profitably. He adds, however, "Our third-quarter results also reflect the difficult operating environment presented by continued very low market interest rates and slow economic growth, which resulted in a decline in the net interest margin, modest loan demand, and reduced mortgage banking revenues."

While Banner's net income declined, its net loans, total assets, and total deposits were higher on Sept. 30 than they had been a year earlier, something Grescovich attributes to successful "client acquisition strategies."

Net loans as of Sept. 30 were $3.2 billion, up from $3.13 billion a year earlier.

Total assets ticked upward to $4.28 billion on Sept. 30 from $4.27 billion a year earlier.

Total deposits increased to $3.54 billion on Sept. 30 from $3.49 billion.

Banner operates branches throughout Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. In the Spokane area, the company has a total of 15 Banner Bank branches and real estate offices.

Columbia Bank

Columbia Banking System Inc., the Tacoma, Wash.-based parent company to Columbia Bank, reported on Oct. 24 third-quarter net income of $13.3 million, or 25 cents a diluted share, up from $11.9 million, or 30 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Earnings per diluted share declined for a number of reasons, the company said, including acquisition-related expenses, related largely to its $506 million purchase of Lake Oswego, Ore.-based West Coast Bancorp., and FDIC-acquired-loan accounting.

Columbia President and CEO Melanie Dressel said in a press release, "We continued to make significant progress in our integration of West Coast and are seeing the anticipated benefits of the acquisition materialize. We had a solid quarter resulting in expanded net interest margin and increased loan originations."

Net interest margin is the difference between interest income a bank generates and interest expenses related to certificates of deposits, savings accounts, and other borrowed funds. A larger margin represents greater interest profitability.

Total assets, total deposits, and net loans all have risen since the end of 2012, mostly due to the West Coast acquisition.

Total assets were $7.2 billion as of Sept. 30, up from $4.9 billion on Dec. 31, 2012. During the same time period, total deposits increased to $5.9 billion from $4 billion.

As of Sept. 30, net loans stood at $4.4 billion, up from $2.9 billion on Dec. 31.

Columbia, which operates two branches here, entered the Spokane market in 2011 after acquiring the assets of the failed Colfax-based Bank of Whitman.

Glacier Bank

Glacier Bancorp Inc., the Kalispell, Mont.-based holding company that owns Coeur d'Alene-based Mountain West Bank among its dozen subsidiaries, reported on Oct. 24 third-quarter net income of $25.6 million, or 35 cents a diluted share, up from $19.4 million, or 27 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

Glacier said in its earnings report that net income for the most recent quarter set an all-time quarterly high for the company.

Mick Blodnick, Glacier's president and CEO, said in the release that the bank completed its acquisition of North Cascades Bancshares Inc., which operates branches in nine Central Washington cities, during the quarter and posted gains in nearly every aspect of its operation.

"Loan growth for the second consecutive quarter was stronger than expected," Blodnick said. "We improved our net interest margin substantially during the quarter, and credit trends and costs both moved in a positive direction."

Glacier's total assets as of Sept. 30 were $8 billion, up from $7.6 billion a year earlier.

Net loans increased as well, to $3.9 billion as of Sept. 30 from $3.3 billion a year earlier. Excluding the North Cascades acquisition, the company said, the loan portfolio still grew $112 million compared with a year earlier.