Santa Barbara Bank & Trust parent Pacific Capital said third-quarter earnings were up 62.2 percent to $33.2 million, or $1.01 per diluted share. The higher profits come on the eve of the sale of the region’s largest banking franchise to San Francisco-based Union Bank, a deal expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Pacific Capital said its latest earnings are at a record high since it was recapitalized in August 2010 by the Texas-basedFord Financial Fund. The Texas private equity firm has agreed to sell the bank to Union for $1.5 billion, three times the amount it paid for the company two years earlier.

Pacific Capital said net interest income climbed from $55.8 million a year ago to $61.2 million in the most recent quarter. The bank’s third-quarter results reflect a trend in the region’s community banks — almost all of the tri-county-based lenders that have reported third-quarter earnings so far have seen significant increases compared to last year.

Pacific Capital also noted that its regulatory capital ratios increased, with its tier one leverage ratio and total-risked based capital ratio at 13.6 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively, as of the end of September.

The bank did increase its provision for loan losses over the past year, an increase it pinned on higher loan originations and purchases. In the third quarter of 2011, the provision was $787,000; last quarter it was $860,000.