Southern California Bancorp reports Q4 EPS 24c v. 46c last year

Reports Q4 net interest margin of 4.05% vs. 4.23% in the prior quarter. “I’m pleased to report our 2023 full year results show strong growth over 2022, with 2023 net income of $25.9M increasing $9.8M or 61% from the prior year, and EPS of $1.39 increasing 57% over the prior year,” said CEO David Rainer. “Our return on average assets of 1.12% grew significantly from 0.70% in the prior year and our net interest margin expanded to 4.33% from 4.06%, despite pressure from the industry-wide increase in the cost of funds, the effects of which were somewhat offset by the Bank’s increased loan yield of 5.94% for 2023, up from 5.02% for the prior year. The highlights of our Q4 results include total loan growth of $29.4M and an increase in tangible book value per share of $0.48 to $13.56, an increase of 3.7% from the prior quarter. Our Q4 results were impacted by a $1M pre-tax loss on the sale of securities yielding 2.4%, the proceeds of which were redeployed into securities yielding 4.7%, which will add to future interest income and provide some protection if interest rates decrease. Q4 was also impacted by a $1.3M charge-off for a nonaccrual loan we reported in the prior quarter, which was the result of a new appraisal of the collateral backing the loan. We are very excited about the merger with California BanCorp and California Bank of Commerce, which was jointly announced this morning.”