Regional bank First Financial Bancorp said Tuesday it pulled in profits of $67.3 million last year, up from 2011 net income of $66.7 million.

The bank’s board of directors approved a dividend of 15 cents per share of common stock, to be paid April 1 to shareholders who own stock as of March 1.

First Financial said results for 2012 included annualized uncovered loan growth of 14.7 percent in the fourth quarter. Uncovered loans are loans not related to the bank’s FDIC acquisitions in past years. The Cincinnati bank had significant core deposit growth in the fourth quarter, amounting to 15 percent annualized growth in non-time deposits in 2012.

For just the fourth quarter, First Financial reported net income of $16.3 million compared to net income of $17.9 million the same quarter of 2011.

“While 2012 presented a variety of challenges, we ended the year on a strong note as we experienced solid growth in both our uncovered loan portfolio and core deposit base,” said Claude Davis, president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

“Our strong pipeline at the end of the third quarter translated into fourth quarter originations and renewals resulting in one of our best quarters in recent years. We had a particularly strong December driven by new business in our traditional commercial and franchise lending businesses. We are optimistic that this momentum will carry over into 2013 as the pipeline continued to look solid at the end of the year,” Davis said.

First Financial, formerly headquartered in Hamilton, is the eighth largest bank by deposits in the Dayton metro, and the fifth largest in the Cincinnati metro. The company increased its Dayton presence in 2011 with the acquisition of branches of Liberty Savings Bank.