Guaranty Bancorp Tuesday reported higher fourth-quarter profits amid loan growth of 5.5 percent in 2012 as compared to 2011.

Loans at the Denver-based bank grew by $60.6 million, and deposits grew by $153.6 million year-over-year in 2011, according to a release issued by the company.

In 2012, the bank purchased a Colorado-based investment management firm called Private Capital Management. The firm delivered "outstanding" results in the five months since the acquisition in July, according to bank President and CEO Paul Taylor.

In the fourth quarter of 2012, Guaranty reported net income of $3.1 million, compared with net income of $2.3 million in the same period of 2011.