U.S. Century Bank Posts Its Best Quarter Since Going Public, but Fee Income Takes the Shine Off
USCB Financial Holdings, parent of Miami's U.S. Century Bank, earned $9.5 million in the third quarter, its best quarter since its 2021 IPO, with nine-month profit already above any full year since. S
MIAMI — One of Miami’s homegrown community banks just had the most profitable quarter in its life as a public company. Wall Street still wanted more.
USCB Financial Holdings (Nasdaq: USCB), the parent of U.S. Century Bank, reported net income of $9.5 million, or 51 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares with $8.9 million, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier.
“Third quarter net income of $9.5 million was the highest quarterly net income since our initial public offering in 2021, and net income of $28.0 million for the first nine months of 2026 has already surpassed full-year net income for every year since our IPO,” Chairman, President and CEO Luis de la Aguilera said in the bank’s earnings release.
Where the Growth Came From
The engine was lending. Net interest income, the money a bank earns on loans and securities minus what it pays depositors and lenders, rose 14.2% from a year earlier to $24.3 million.
A few numbers from the release tell the story:
- Loans: Loans held for investment grew 9.0% from a year earlier to $2.3 billion.
- Margin: Net interest margin widened to 3.37% from 3.14% a year ago, as the bank paid less on deposits. Its average cost of interest-bearing deposits fell to 2.90% from 3.29%.
- Assets: Total assets reached $3.0 billion, up 8.8% from a year earlier.
- Returns: Return on average equity was 16.03% and return on average assets was 1.27%.
- Dividend: The board declared a quarterly dividend of 12.5 cents per share, payable Dec. 4 to shareholders of record on Nov. 16, up from 10 cents a year ago.
Commercial real estate remains the bank’s biggest book, at about $1.35 billion of loans at quarter’s end, followed by residential real estate and commercial and industrial lending.
The Soft Spots
Not every line moved the right way. Non-interest income, which includes service fees, fell 27.5% from a year earlier to $2.7 million. Service fees alone dropped to about $1.5 million from roughly $2.7 million.
Expenses also rose. Non-interest expense climbed 12.9% to $14.7 million, led by salaries and benefits, and the efficiency ratio, a measure of how much it costs to produce each dollar of revenue, rose to 54.62% from 52.28%. The bank had 222 full-time equivalent employees, up from 206 a year earlier.
Total deposits were essentially flat at about $2.4 billion, down 0.4% from a year earlier.
On credit, non-performing loans rose to $7.7 million, or 0.33% of total loans, from $2.1 million at the end of June. That is still a small share of the loan book, and the allowance for credit losses stood at 1.16% of loans.
How the Market Reacted
Investors focused on the misses. According to an Investing.com summary of the earnings call, earnings of 51 cents a share fell short of the 56 cents analysts expected, and revenue of about $27.0 million came in below a forecast of $29.2 million. Shares fell 8.22% to $20.88 in after-hours trading following the report.
Management sounded upbeat on the road ahead. Per the same summary, executives expect the net interest margin to hold around 3.40% in the fourth quarter, said about $610 million of loans tied to SOFR or prime are set to reprice in the quarter, and described the loan pipeline as “about as strong as it’s been for the year.” They also expect fee income to move back toward $3.5 million a quarter, depending on SBA loan sales and swap activity.
Why It Matters for Miami Business Owners
U.S. Century Bank, founded in 2002, is one of the largest community banks headquartered in Miami. For local entrepreneurs, its results are a useful read on credit conditions close to home.
The message is mixed but mostly positive. A bank growing loans at 9% a year, with a pipeline it calls strong, is a bank that wants to lend, including to commercial real estate owners and operating businesses. A capital cushion well above regulatory minimums, with a total risk-based capital ratio of 14.07%, gives it room to do so.
The rise in non-performing loans is worth watching, as is the push to rebuild fee income, which could mean more emphasis on SBA lending and treasury services for small and midsize companies. For borrowers shopping for a relationship bank, that competition for business is good news.