Banner Corp., the Walla Walla, Wash.-based holding company for Banner Bank that agreed to acquire Spokane-based AmericanWest Bank late last year, today reported fourth-quarter 2014 net income of $12.2 million, or 63 cents a diluted share, up from $11.6 million, or 60 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.

For all of 2014, Banner posted income of $54.6 million, or $2.82 a share, up from $46.6 million, or $2.40 a share, in 2013.

The bank company’s total loans increased to $3.83 billion as of Dec. 31, from $3.42 billion a year earlier. Its total deposits grew to $3.90 billion on Dec. 31, from $3.62 billion a year earlier.

Banner had disclosed in November its plans to merge into its operations AmericanWest Bank in a transaction valued at $702 million. That transaction is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of this year.

Following the AmericanWest Bank transaction and a previously announced acquisition of Siuslaw Bank, Banner says it will have about $9.7 billion in assets, $6.8 billion in loans, $8 billion in deposits, and 190 branches across five states.

Banner President and CEO Mark J. Grescovich said in a press release, referring to the acquisitions and its growth last year, “We believe these achievements, taken together, will result in a transformational year for Banner in 2015.”