Sierra Bancorp announced a slightly-lower net income when it released its fourth quarter 2020 earnings amid high deposit growth and record growth in loans and leases.

The parent of Bank of the Sierra, which is based in Porterville but has 11 branches in the Tri-Counties, announced a fourth quarter net income of $9 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, compare to a net income of $9.3 million, or 60 cents per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The bank attributed the change in net income to a higher provision for loan and lease losses and noninterest expense. Sierra Bancorp’s loan and lease loss provision is $1.7 million higher because of the bank’s increase in core loan volume and continued economic uncertainty.

Sierra Bancorp also saw net loan growth of $694.5 million, or almost 40%, which was largely driven by more than $500 million in non-agricultural real estate loans, as well as an almost $120 million increase in mortgage warehouse lines and $119.4 million in PPP loans. Deposits also increased by $456.2 million, a 21% jump.