U.S. Century Bank reports Q4 EPS 14c, consensus 22c

“I am pleased to announce the results of a robust quarter at U.S. Century Bank, achieving loan production of $186 million with $150 million in loan fundings having a weighted average coupon of 8% on new loans,” said Luis de la Aguilera, Chairman, President, and CEO. “Despite facing one of the most aggressive Federal Reserve tightening periods in history, we’ve observed a steady improvement in our operating environment. Our Net Interest Margin (NIM) improved 5 bps in comparison to the previous quarter. Additionally, our accumulated comprehensive loss also showed improvement in the fourth quarter decreasing by $7.0 million to $44.3 million, which has increased our stockholders equity and tangible book value. As part of our commitment to address NIM compression, we executed a $10 million loss trade transaction selling lower-yielding securities and reinvesting the funds in higher-yielding investments. Acknowledging the industry-wide impact of an inverted yield curve on earnings, our focus in 2024 is geared towards continued higher-yield loan production, deposit pricing discipline, and leveraging our proven business lines as lead deposit aggregators,” said de la Aguilera.