IN case you missed on Thursday, Spokane's Sterling Financial Corp. had a good 4Q earnings report.

The company, which operates Sterling Savings Bank, announced it booked net income of $20.9 million, or 33 cents per diluted common share, compared to $30.6 million, or 49 cents per diluted common share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2012, and $14.8 million or 24 cents per diluted common share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2011.

For the year Sterling recorded net income of $385.7 million, or $6.14 per diluted common share, compared to $39.1 million, or 63 cents per diluted common share, for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011.

The 2012 annual net income included an income tax benefit of $292 million associated with the release of a deferred tax asset valuation allowance.

Here are some other bullet points, borrowed from TheStreet.com:

• Portfolio loan originations for the quarter were $561.7 million, a 23 percent increase over the prior quarter.
• Income from mortgage banking operations for the year was $96.9 million, up 85 percent over 2011.
• Nonperforming assets to total assets was 2.28 percent, down from 2.73 percent at September 30, 2012, and 4.01 percent at December 31, 2011.
• A total of $40.4 million, or 65 cents per share, was returned to shareholders during the fourth quarter of 2012 through payment of a 15 cent per share regular dividend, a 35 cents per share special dividend and the accelerated payment of the 15 cents regular dividend that would have otherwise been paid during the first quarter of 2013.
• During the fourth quarter, Sterling announced the signing of definitive agreements to acquire American Heritage Holdings and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Borrego Springs Bank of California.

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