Banc of California reports Q3 adjusted EPS 25c, consensus 10c

Reports Q3 revenue $216.7M, consensus $227.5M. Jared Wolff, President & CEO of Banc of California (BANC), commented, “During the third quarter, we made significant progress growing our core earnings and we achieved our year-end targets for net interest margin, noninterest expenses, and balance sheet metrics a quarter early. We strengthened our franchise through several strategic balance sheet repositioning actions including completing the sale of $1.95 billion of Civic loans, which had a positive impact on our capital and liquidity. We leveraged the proceeds and capital to reposition a portion of our securities portfolio and significantly reduce higher cost funding, which resulted in strong net interest margin expansion and increased our tangible book value per share and capital position. Furthermore, we continued to make solid progress reducing noninterest expenses, completed our core system conversion successfully, and consolidated 12 branches during the quarter.” Wolff continued, “With these major balance sheet and operational initiatives behind us, Banc of California is now at an inflection point, shifting our focus from transforming our internal infrastructure to external growth. We are capitalizing on the strength of the franchise and balance sheet we have built and the exceptional customer experience we can offer to expand existing relationships and add attractive new client relationships. As economic conditions improve, we believe we are well positioned to increase our market share, expand our client roster, generate profitable growth and continue to enhance the long-term value of our franchise.”