Ummm...
NYCB acquired Signature Bank.
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I got the following text in an e-mail today from the ISI Newsletter. It's a very good advisory service for income investors.
New York Community Bancorp, Inc. (NYCB) announced on January 31, 2024 a surprise 4Q 2023 net loss of $260.0 million or $(0.36) per share. On an adjusted basis, NYCB reported a $193.0 million net loss or $(0.27) per share. Results fell well short of analysts’ expected earnings of $0.27 per share. The banking company issued a statement saying the 4Q period was hit by merger-related items and an FDIC special assessment, but also the need to take significant charge-offs, shore up loan loss reserves, and increase the bank’s allowance for loan losses in the face of weaker commercial real estate markets. In March 2023 NYCB announced its acquisition of Signature Bank, a failed banking institution purchased with the blessing and assistance of the FDIC. The transaction increased NYCB’s balance sheet to more $100 billion in total assets, pushing the bank into the regulators’ large bank category, requiring tougher capital requirements. With the need to accelerate its capital build, materially improve credit quality standards and metrics, and increase operating income, the company cut its quarterly common stock dividend by 70% to $0.05 per share. NYCB reported a big jump in bad debts, largely brought on by office properties. The banking company’s CEO cited two office buildings as the root cause of the real estate problems, a Syracuse office property with a $28.0 million mortgage, and a $112.0 million loan tied to a Manhattan office building. We last reviewed NYCB and its common stock, NYCB’s 6.00% Convertible BONUSES Units (NYCB-U), and the company’s 6.375% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Preferred (NYCB-A) in May 2023, following the acquisition of the failed Signature Bank (see Website and May 2023 Newsletter for full details on all issues). With the 70% common dividend cut, and the capital and credit challenges ahead for NYCB, future dividend growth stands to be muted for the 2024-2025 period, in our opinion. As a result, we are changing our recommendation regarding NYCB’s common stock to Sell from Buy for medium-risk taxable portfolios. With regards to NYCB’s 6.00% Convertible issue (NYCB-U) and its 6.375% Preferred issue (NYCB-A), we continue to recommend both investments as a Buy (see Website for details).