Oct. 23--As it has for the past year, Ontario-headquartered Citizens Business Bank continued to buck dour banking industry trends, posting record earnings in its recently completed third quarter.

The bank's parent, CVB Financial Corp., announced in a statement late Wednesday that the company registered earnings of $19.3 million for the quarter ending Sept. 30, representing the highest quarterly net income in the company's history.

"We are very pleased to report these outstanding results for the third quarter, particularly in these challenging times," CVB President and Chief Executive Christopher Myers said in the statement.

Earnings rose 21.8 percent over the prior quarter and were up 10 percent from the same quarter of 2008. Deposits rose 26.5 percent from a year ago.

Earnings for the nine months ending Sept. 30 were down 4.82 percent from the same period of 2008.

The higher profits in the latest quarter came despite the company's provisions for credit losses totaling $13 million during the third quarter, compared with $4 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Citizens Business Bank was already the largest Inland-based financial institution before its acquisition last week of the failed San Joaquin Bank. Bakersfield-based, with five branches, San Joaquin was shut down Friday by regulators after it became the 99th U.S. bank to fail in 2009.

Citizens Business now has $6.5 billion in assets and 51 offices throughout California.

Most Inland-based banks, large and small, have seen reduced earnings or losses for the past year, spurred by a crushing recession and the collapse of the local housing market. In all three completed quarters of 2009, Citizens Business' profits have risen over the prior period.

Michael Natzic, who tracks community banks at brokerage firm Stone & Youngberg in Big Bear Lake, said Thursday that Citizens Business has a long track record of avoiding the traps that snagged many other financial firms.

That includes avoiding over-investment in housing construction.

"It's a combination of a conservative approach with making the right bets," Natzic said. "You have to give them a lot of credit."

Natzic noted that Citizens Business is not immune to current and potential future losses in commercial lending, which are affecting banks across the nation. "But most indications are that its preparation and discipline in the past should serve it well moving forward," he said.

In May, Citizens Business was ranked among the nation's "Top 25 Performing Banks" by the American Banking Association, which studied 145 institutions. Citizens Business was recognized for its return on average equity, which at 13.75 percent ranked 10th in the nation in 2008 for all banks with assets of more than $3 billion.

Reach Lou Hirsh at 951-368-9559 or lhirsh@PE.com

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