Sterling Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:STSA - News), (“Sterling”), and Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) announced today that THL intends to increase the size of its proposed investment in Sterling to $170 million, subject to the approval of the U.S. Treasury under the terms of the previously announced exchange agreement with Sterling.

If approved, THL would purchase shares of common stock and shares of a newly-created Series B convertible participating voting preferred stock at a price of up to $0.20 per share of common stock and up to $92.00 per share of Series B stock, each of which would be mandatorily convertible into 460 shares of common stock.

THL would also receive a warrant with a seven-year term to purchase shares of common stock exercisable at a price of up to $0.22 per share. [Read the full article]

Sterling Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:STSA - News) announced today that it intends to offer approximately $555 million of securities to institutional accredited investors in a private placement transaction.

The securities to be offered are expected to consist of approximately 221.9 million shares of common stock at a per-share price of $0.20 and approximately 5.5 million shares of newly created Series D convertible participating voting preferred stock at a per-share price of $92.00 that are convertible into an aggregate of approximately 2.6 billion shares of common stock as described below. [Read the full article]

Louisiana Bancorp, Inc. (the "Company") (Nasdaq:LABC - News), the holding company for Bank of New Orleans (the "Bank"), announced today that the Company's net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 was $585,000, or $0.14 per share (basic and diluted), a decrease of $155,000 from the first quarter of 2009. Net interest income decreased by $76,000 during the quarter ended March 31, 2010 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2009. Interest income for the first quarter of 2010 compared to the first quarter of 2009 decreased by $183,000 due primarily to a decrease in the average yield of interest-earning assets of 31 basis points. Interest expense for the first quarter of 2010 was $1.5 million, a decrease of $107,000 from the first quarter of 2009. [Read the full article]

First-quarter net income rose 78 percent at Lake Shore Bancorp Inc., climbing from $405,000 in March 2009 to $721,000 as of March 31, 2010, according to the Dunkirk-based banking company’s recent earnings report. Net interest income totaled $3.39 million, up from $2.78 million a year ago. That’s a difference of 21.8 percent. Meanwhile, operating expenses climbed 9.1 percent, to $2.92 million from $2.67 million. The additional expenses stem from higher marketing costs, FDIC assessments, staff additions, merit pay increases and higher benefits costs, the bank said. Provisions for bad loans declined from $120,000 a year ago to $50,000 during the most recent quarter. Thats down 58.3 percent, which the bank said reflects “both the quality and composition of the bank’s loan portfolio.” Still, nonperforming loans accounted for 0.84 percent of total loans, up 66 percent over last year. [Read the full article]