Oct 20, 2026 earnings call — Navitas exit and balance sheet repositioning
Fourth-quarter EPS expected to increase to a range of $0.80 to $0.83 per share.
Revenue $0.3B (est $0.3B) · EPS $0.77 (est $0.77)
Key quotes
"We simplified the business and reduced credit risk by exiting Navitas."
"So our new hires represented nearly 40% of the production in Q3."
"With the increase in rates in September, our average reinvestment rate was over 4.6% with the same expected duration of approximately 2 years."
Analyst Q&A 7
new lenders' contribution and rate risk
Q (Russell Gunther · Stephens): He asked how much the new commercial lenders have contributed to production and whether higher rates could cause pipeline fallout that would hurt organic growth. He also asked about the margin impact and what deposit beta assumptions the bank is using.
A: Management said the new hires drove a large share of recent production and the team is producing well. They said another couple of 100 basis points of hikes would start to pressure CRE and construction lending, and customers are asking about short mini-perm loans. On margin, guidance assumes a 25 basis point hike in December, mid-3.70s NIM is the near-term view, and historically interest-bearing deposit beta was about 59% though near-term deposit costs may perform better.
"So our new hires represented nearly 40% of the production in Q3." — Richard William Bradshaw
deposit effect and securities size
Q (Gary Tenner · D.A. Davidson): He asked whether the new producers have driven deposit growth and, separately, whether the securities portfolio will grow beyond the current level around $6.5 billion.
A: Management said they brought over private bankers who have had an impact on deposits but they did not have the dollar amount on hand and would follow up. They said the securities portfolio ended the quarter around $6.8 billion and that $6.8 billion to $7 billion is a good level, with further moves dependent on loan growth.
"We do not make loans without depository relationships. So just they all they definitely have contributed. I just do not have the dollar amount." — Richard William Bradshaw
loan growth plans and capital targets
Q (Will Jones · KBW): He asked if UCB should be viewed as a high single digit loan grower going forward given the balance sheet optionality, how quickly liquidity could be deployed, and for an update on longer-term capital targets and ROE goals.
A: Management said being a high single digit grower is their goal and they have been hiring to support that. They described a plan to grow sales headcount roughly 10% a year (about 20-ish people a year) and cited a 77% loan-to-deposit ratio that gives flexibility to deploy assets; they said they are still debating exact capital targets but are comfortable today and remain set on reaching 15%+ ROTCE with room to take capital actions.
"And roughly that was growing the amount of salespeople by 10% a year." — Richard William Bradshaw
deposit mix, mortgage outlook, credit
Q (Michael Rose · Raymond James): He asked about the implications of keeping non-interest bearing deposits at about 27% and whether agentic deposit activity is a risk. He also asked about the mortgage business outlook and expectations for SBA loan sale gains, and about a small uptick in substandard classified loans.
A: Management said they feel comfortable with a 27% NIB level in the near to intermediate term and think agentic deposit flows will be slower than some expect because many large depositors already use sweep, ICS and money market options. They said mortgage production is likely down industrywide and forecast it to be 10% to 20% lower depending on quarter, SBA sale premiums are flat, and the recent uptick in criticized/classified loans is normal course and they expect it to run in a 3% to 5% range rather than the 2.5% outlier.
"So that is going to be in the 10% to 20% lower to depending on the quarter and the year." — Richard William Bradshaw
CECL/CRE outlook and reserves
Q (Christopher Marinac · Brean Capital): He asked about CECL metrics (S&P/Moody’s) and any movement in CRE that would change reserve planning. He also asked if criticized/classified loan levels might move next quarter and about average loan life for reserve modeling.
A: Management said their forecast assumes a stable economic environment and noted a hurricane reserve established in 2024 fell off at the end of 2025, which affects comparisons. They said Moody’s CRE price index is forecasting stable prices, they expect criticized/classified levels to bounce around in a historical 3% to 5% range (2.5% last quarter was unusually low), and average loan life to use for modeling is about 3 to 3.5 years.
"So we are really forecasting a, stable economic environment in our forecast." — Robert A. Edwards
core expenses and purchase accretion
Q (Emily Graves · Hovde Group): She asked what a reasonable core operating expense run rate is for next quarter and what purchase accounting accretion should be expected going forward.
A: Management said this quarter expenses were mid-$150 million; with Navitas and Peach State effects rolling through, they expect a run rate in the low-$150 million area and then typical annual expense growth of about 3% to 5% plus other investments. For purchase accounting accretion, they said think about roughly $5 million run rate per quarter.
"I would put that in kind of the $5 million context run rate a quarter." — Tom H. Speir (CFO)
rate moves, pricing, and buybacks
Q (Stephen Scouten · Piper Sandler): He asked how each additional 25 basis point hike might flow to NIM and deposit betas, what new loan yields and new deposit costs look like now, and how the recent share repurchase should affect future buyback activity.
A: Management said roughly half of loans and securities are floating rate and fixed-rate asset repricing plus a currently lower near-term deposit beta are tailwinds; they gave mid-3.70s NIM for Q4 as a starting point and said there is room for continued expansion. They said loan pricing compressed a bit over the last 6 months but has flattened; new loans are coming on around the 6.25% range and new deposit costs are generally in the mid- to high-2% area; on buybacks they said current prices are attractive and they expect to be active, likely spread throughout the year.
"The new loans are going on, call it, in the 6.25% range kind of area. Is a good level to think about." — Tom H. Speir (CFO)