Pacific Premier Bancorp (PPBI), the holding company of Pacific Premier Bank, reported fourth quarter net income of $12 million, or 43 cents per diluted share, including $772,000 of merger-related expenses related to its pending acquisition of Heritage Oaks Bancorp.

Net income was up from $8.1 million, or 37 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Irvine-based Pacific Premier announced plans to acquire Heritage Oaks in December for $405.6 million or $11.68 per share, continuing the banking consolidation trend throughout the Tri-Counties.

Paso Robles-based Heritage Oaks, the region’s largest bank with $2 billion in assets and 12 branches, will join forces via an all-stock deal with Pacific Premier, a $3.8 billion-asset bank with 16 branches in Southern California.

“We are making good headway in the integration of our pending acquisition of Heritage Oaks Bancorp, and are excited about the opportunities created through this transaction,” Pacific Premier President and CEO Steven Gardner said in a news release. “The acquisition of Heritage Oaks will not only increase our scale and operational efficiencies, but also will enable us to extend our franchise into the highly attractive, deposit-rich California Central Coast market. We believe that the strong deposit franchise that Heritage Oaks has developed, combined with our proven approach to business development, will enable us to steadily increase our market share in the Central Coast in the years ahead.”

Pacific Premier’s total loans increased $150 million in the fourth quarter, up 19 percent on the year, and non-maturity deposits grew $83 million, up 13 percent on the year.

The bank reported a net interest margin of 4.6 percent and an efficiency ratio of 51 percent.

Pacific Premier stock went up more than 9 percent on Jan. 24 to $39.25. Heritage Oaks also saw a 9-percent surge in its stock, up to $13.47 a share.

• Contact Alex kacik at akacik@pacbiztimes.com.