New York Community Bancorp Shares Tumble After Earnings Miss, 71% Dividend Cut

New York Community Bancorp (NYCB), the bank whose unit took over defunct Signature Bank’s non crypto-related deposits, fell as much as 42% on Wednesday after missing earnings estimates and slashing its dividend.

The bank reported a fourth-quarter loss of $0.36 per share, missing an analyst estimate of earnings of $0.27 per share, according to FactSet data. The company said in a statement that fourth-quarter net income and diluted EPS were hit by “merger-related items and a FDIC special assessment.”

Last year, NYCB’s Flagstar Bank unit assumed non crypto-related deposits held by Signature Bank, after state regulators shut down the crypto-friendly bank. Signature was among the banks that collapsed during the 2023 “banking crisis” that saw the voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank and closure of Silicon Valley Bank.

NYCB also lowered its quarterly dividends to $0.05, down about 71% from the previous quarter.

“We recognize the importance and impact of the dividend reduction on all of our stockholders and it was not made lightly,” President and CEO Thomas Cangemi said in the statement. “We believe this is the prudent decision as it will allow us to accelerate the building of capital to support our balance sheet as a Category IV bank.”

The bank’s shares have slumped almost 40% this year, while SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) fell 2.2%.