Signature Bank reported net income for Q1/18 was $34.5 million versus $133.9 million for Q1/17. Signature attributed the decrease in net income for Q1/18, versus the comparable quarter last year, to an increase of $121.1 million in the provision for loan losses, nearly all attributable to the New York City taxi medallion portfolio. Excluding write-downs for the taxi medallion portfolio, net income would have been a record $146.8 million.
The bank took significant measures to address the New York City taxi medallion portfolio by reserving for or writing down each New York City medallion loan or asset to a value of approximately $160,000 leaving the bank with a total net exposure of $156.5 million, or 35 basis points of assets.
The bank’s Q1/18 provision for loan and lease losses of $140.8 million was up from $19.6 million for the same quarter a year earlier.
“Signature Bank welcomed 2018 by delivering a strong first quarter of core growth and earnings and taking additional steps to effectively address our taxi medallion portfolio. During the quarter, we already added two new private client banking teams to our network and appointed two leading banking veterans to head our West Coast operations. With this additional expertise, we are expanding our San Francisco accommodation location into a full-service private client banking office, located downtown in a thriving area of the city. These initiatives are paving the way for our growth and expansion on both coasts,” explained Joseph J. DePaolo, co-founder, president and CEO of Signature.
“We are also making headway on several fronts we previously discussed, including a revamped credit management structure that has revitalized our commercial and industrial lending while maintaining our momentum across all lending activities,” DePaolo said. “Additionally, we are making further progress on the updating of the bank’s infrastructure as it relates to our loan origination systems, payments architecture platform and foreign exchange system. And we are also cautiously optimistic with Congress’s progress towards raising the systematically important financial institution (SIFI) threshold, which stands to benefit banks of our size and scope. All of these actions place Signature Bank on solid footing as we kick off 2018.”
