Bank of America remains fragile, regional bank NYCB's earnings report falls short, with a sharp drop of over 40% during trading.
NYCB unexpectedly reported a loss in the fourth quarter and announced a drastic cut of over two-thirds in dividends. This is due to the acquisition of Signature Bank, which collapsed in March last year, and NYCB's management of assets exceeding $100 billion, which needs to meet new regulatory requirements. NYCB's stock price experienced its largest decline since its listing; the U.S. regional bank index fell nearly 5% in early trading, marking the largest intraday decline in eight months.
The banking crisis caused by SVB Financial in March last year is still fresh in people's memory, and the financial report of a regional bank in the United States has once again raised concerns about the prospects of small banks.
On Wednesday, January 30th, before the market opened in Eastern Time, New York Community Bancorp announced a loss of $260 million in the fourth quarter, or a loss of $0.36 per share. This is a turnaround from a profit of $0.27 per share in the same period last year, with an adjusted EPS loss of $0.27, while analysts expected an EPS profit of $0.26.
In the fourth quarter, NYCB recorded revenue of $886 million, a year-on-year increase of 53.6%, still lower than analysts' expected $929.5 million. The bank's loan loss provision for the quarter reached $552 million, far exceeding the $62 million in the third quarter.
At the same time, NYCB announced that it will significantly reduce its dividend by more than two-thirds in order to accumulate capital to meet US regulatory requirements, in line with regulatory requirements for capital for Class 4 banks with assets ranging from $100 billion to $250 billion.
NYCB CEO Thomas Cangemi stated that after acquiring the assets and liabilities of Signature Bank, which collapsed in March last year, NYCB's managed assets exceeded $100 billion and is adapting to the regulatory requirements for large banks. "We must adhere to higher prudential standards, including risk-based and leverage-based capital requirements, liquidity standards," he said.
After the financial report was released, NYCB opened with a gap down of 42.6%. In the early trading session, it fell more than 46%, marking the largest intraday decline since its listing in November 1993. The early decline narrowed to within 40%, still setting the largest daily decline in the history of the stock, far exceeding the 13.8% decline on September 22, 2008, during the global financial crisis.
Regional banks in the United States fell across the board after Tuesday's opening, affected by the sharp decline of NYCB. The KBW Nasdaq Regional Banking Index (KRX) initially fell by about 4.8%, marking the largest intraday decline since May 2023. The early decline narrowed, with a drop of more than 3%. Among the constituents, Zions Bancorporation (ZION) and Comerica (CMA) both fell more than 4% initially, and fell by nearly 3% and over 1% respectively in early trading.
As regional banks plummeted, US Treasury bond prices rose and the yield curve steepened. Commentators say that the short-term yield curve may still be sensitive to the sharp decline in bank stocks, as it raises concerns about a repeat of the banking crisis in March last year and worries that the US banking system is still vulnerable.