Sterling Financial Corp. announced unaudited consolidated results for the third quarter and the nine months ended September 30, 2009. For the quarter, the company announced loss before income taxes of $398,940,000, net loss attributable to common shareholders of $463,725,000 or $8.93 per basic and diluted share compared to income before income taxes of $4,557,000, net income attributable to common shareholders of $4,998,000 or $0.10 per basic and diluted share for the same period a year ago. Total interest income was $148,768,000 compared to $176,327,000 for the same period a year ago. For the nine months ended September 30, 2009, the company announced loss before income taxes of $485,401,000, net loss attributable to common shareholders of $522,395,000 or $10.06 per basic and diluted share compared to income before income taxes of $24,739,000, net income attributable to common shareholders of $19,549,000 or $0.38 per basic and diluted share for the same period a year ago. Total interest income was $463,418,000 compared to $545,952,000 for the same period a year ago. Book value per common share as on September 30, 2009 was $7.10. For the third quarter, the company announced goodwill impairment of $227,558,000.

Sterling Financial Corp. expected to Report Fiscal Year 2009 Results on January 25, 2010. This event was calculated by Capital IQ (Created on October 22, 2009).

Sterling Financial Corp. announced the appointment of Sterling Financial Corporation director William L. Eisenhart as non-executive chairman of its board of directors. It also announced the promotion of J. Gregory Seibly to acting president and chief executive officer of Sterling Financial Corp. and the promotion of Ezra A. Eckhardt to acting chief operating officer of Sterling Financial Corp. Mr. Seibly, Mr. Eckhardt and Mr. Costa have assumed the full responsibilities of their roles, effective immediately. Mr. Eisenhart, has served as an independent member of Sterling's board and chair of its audit committee. They will serve as acting executives until their appointments receive final approval from Sterling's regulators, who have been informed of the appointments. Mr. Eisenhart also announced the departure of Harold B. Gilkey, who co-founded Sterling in 1983, from his roles as chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Sterling Financial Corp., as a director of Sterling Savings Bank, and as chief executive officer and a director of Golf Savings Bank.