How to Protect Yourself from Automated Clearing House (ACH) Fraud
Q+A with Adham Sbeih, CEO of Socotra Capital
Since 2007, Socotra Capital has funded over 2,000 loans, totaling $1 billion in private money loans across 22 states. Based in Sacramento, they are a premier private hard money lender and have built their reputation through consistent performance, reliable service, and fast delivery.
We caught up with Socotra Capital’s CEO, Adham Sbeih, to talk about how the company’s history and constant drive to improve have shaped what the company represents today.
River City Bank Announces New Interim Chief Financial Officer
SACRAMENTO, CA — River City Bank (the Bank) announced today that Anker Christensen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank, will step down effective July 3, 2023.
Brian Killeen, currently the Bank’s Senior Vice President and Controller, has been appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective July 3, 2023. Mr. Killeen has been the Bank’s Controller for the past 16 years. Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Killeen spent the first seven years of his career working for KPMG LLP. Mr. Killeen holds a B.S. in Business Administration, with concentrations in Accounting and Finance, from California State University, Sacramento and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). The Bank will engage a search firm as part of the process for selecting the Bank’s permanent Chief Financial Officer, and Mr. Killeen will be a candidate for the position.
Mr. Christensen stated, “It has been a tremendous privilege to work with my exceptional colleagues at River City Bank over the past 19 years. The work has been highly rewarding and I am personally very gratified to have played a key role in transforming the Bank to such a large extent. While I will miss my colleagues at the Bank, I am also looking forward to starting a new chapter in my career.”
“Anker has been an instrumental part of our transformation at River City Bank from a small retail-oriented bank to a high-performing boutique commercial bank,” said Steve Fleming, the Bank’s President and CEO. “On behalf of the entire River City Bank team, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Anker for all his valuable and significant contributions to the Bank and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. He will be missed.”
“We are fortunate to have an executive with Brian’s experience to serve as Interim CFO,” added Mr. Fleming. “He is intimately familiar with the Bank’s culture, along with all of the Bank’s accounting, treasury management, and financial reporting requirements. We will be conducting a search to fill the CFO position on a permanent basis and Brian will be a candidate for the role.”
River City Bank adds former Umpqua Regional Director Rebecca Fabisch Miller as EVP, Commercial Banking Director
SACRAMENTO, CA – River City Bank has announced Rebecca Fabisch Miller as Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking Director. In this role, Fabisch Miller will focus on providing services to the Bank’s middle-market commercial clients. She will lead the Bank’s commercial banking team in expanding and enhancing RCB’s commercial deposit and lending presence throughout California. Before joining RCB, Fabisch Miller held a senior commercial banking position with Umpqua Bank, managing a diverse portfolio of clients in the Sacramento region across multiple industries.
“With Rebecca’s proven leadership and tremendous depth of commercial banking experience, we will build on the strengths of our commercial banking team while meeting the unique needs of our clients,” said Steve Fleming, President and CEO of River City Bank. “Rebecca has the client focus, track record, industry experience, and extraordinary talent to lead RCB forward in this segment of the market.”
Fabisch Miller’s expertise includes orchestrating credit arrangements of varying sizes and complexity as direct lender or as the lead bank in syndicated deals. She has managed a diverse portfolio of clients across multiple industries, including not-for-profit organizations and agriculture. A solutions-oriented banker, Fabisch Miller has extensive knowledge of treasury management, real estate and equipment finance, global and investment banking, derivatives, debt capital markets, and insurance.
“I am excited to join the River City Bank Team,” said Fabisch Miller, Executive Vice President and Commercial Banking Director. “With its headquarters in Sacramento, River City Bank is uniquely positioned to offer customized credit facilities, access to decision-makers, and competitive pricing to middle-market businesses.”
Fabisch Miller earned her MBA from the University of California, Davis and has an undergraduate degree in International Business and Marketing from California State University, Sacramento. She is the Treasurer for the California Forest Foundation and has also been involved with many other local charities. Fabisch Miller is a mother of two and enjoys exercising with friends; she has run sixteen marathons and even more half-marathons.
For more information about River City Bank, visit RiverCityBank.com
River City Bank Reports a Quarterly Cash Dividend on Common Shares
SACRAMENTO, CA — Steve Fleming, president and chief executive officer of River City Bank (the Bank), announced that the Bank’s board of directors has approved, in connection with the Bank’s recently reported net income of $12.9 million or $8.64 diluted earnings per share for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, a cash dividend of $0.35 per common share to shareholders of record as of May 2, 2023, and payable on May 16, 2023.
River City Bank Reports 2023 First Quarter Net Income of $12.9 Million
SACRAMENTO, CA —River City Bank (the Bank) reported net income of $12.9 million, or $8.64 per diluted share, for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, which compares to the $16.5 million, or $11.10 per diluted share, for the same period in 2022. The prior year quarter net income benefitted by several non-recurring revenue sources, as follows:
- $7.0 million in mark-to-market gains on interest rate swaps for the quarter ending March 31, 2022 compared to none in the current As of March 31, 2023, all of the Bank’s interest rate swap contracts are being accounted for as hedges.
- $6.9 million gain on sale derived from a true-up related to earn-out provisions from the sale of an investment in the prior year quarter.
- $443,000 deferred loan fees earned on Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for which the outstanding loan balances were forgiven by the Small Business Administration in the prior year quarter compared to virtually none in the current quarter.
Partially mitigating the above was the reduced provision for loan losses of $1.5 million for the current year quarter compared to $6.4 million in the prior year quarter.
The Bank’s earnings for the quarter ending March 31, 2023 represented a healthy 14% return on equity capital and 1.29% return on assets.
“With the Bank’s founding in 1973, we are celebrating 50 years of consistent and reliable service to our customers in 2023 and we are thankful for the goodwill that we have built with our loyal customer base,” said Steve Fleming, president and chief executive officer. “Notwithstanding the anxiety that was caused by the failure of several banks in the first quarter, our total deposits of over $3.4 billion are essentially unchanged from December 31, 2022; as such, the Bank’s liquidity remains healthy. At the same time, our asset quality remains strong with a short duration (average of 1.7 years) bond portfolio and virtually no delinquencies or non-performing loans. We believe we can continue to grow our commercial real estate loan portfolio as we focus on loans secured by multi-family and industrial properties, as well as expanding our geographic footprint to other western states outside of California. We will remain diligent with our monitoring of potential impacts to the office segment of our commercial real estate loan portfolio from the reduction in demand as employers continue to provide work from home opportunities for their employees.”
“The Bank’s high quality investment securities portfolio continues to perform well with minimal unrealized losses included in accumulated other comprehensive loss within shareholders’ equity and there are no investment securities categorized as held-to maturity,” said Anker Christensen, chief financial officer of River City Bank. “Operational efficiency remains a core competency for the Bank, as evidenced by our 32 percent efficiency ratio for the quarter ending March 31, 2023.”
Shareholders’ equity for River City Bank on March 31, 2023 increased $13.5 million to $366.5 million, when compared to the $353 million as of December 31, 2022. The increase was driven by current year retained earnings as the Bank distributes only a small portion of its net income. The Bank’s equity continues to be minimally impacted by the $4.4 million accumulated other comprehensive loss as of March 31, 2023. The Bank’s capital ratio remains well above the regulatory definition for being Well Capitalized with a Tier 1 Leverage Ratio of 9.3% as of March 31, 2023.
A Seat at the Table Podcast: River City Bank – It All Started with an Idea on a Cocktail Napkin
Find out how RCB founder Jon Kelly’s business plan, written on a cocktail napkin during a dinner at Frank Fat’s in Sacramento, was the catalyst for building the region’s largest, independent, locally-owned and managed bank.
The Capital Region Family Business Center podcast, “A Seat at the Table,” will give you a glimpse of the history and beginnings of RCB. Listen in as host Natalie Kling chats with River City Bank’s Board Chair, Shawn Devlin, and President and CEO Steve Fleming, as they embark on RCB’s 50th year.
River City Bank Reports 6 Percent Increase to the Quarterly Cash Dividend on Common Shares
SACRAMENTO, CA — Steve Fleming, president and chief executive officer of River City Bank (the Bank), announced that the Bank’s board of directors has approved a 6 percent increase to the quarterly cash dividend from $0.33 per common share to $0.35 per common share. This increase was made in connection with the Bank’s recently reported net income of $11.5 million and $47.8 million, or $7.72 and $32.22 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2022, respectively. These dividends will be made to shareholders of record as of February 7, 2023, and payable on February 21, 2023.
River City Bank Reports 7th Consecutive Year With Record Net Income in 2022
SACRAMENTO, CA — River City Bank (the Bank) reported earnings for the fourth quarter of 2022 of $11.5 million, or $7.72 per share, compared to $9.8 million, or $6.63 per share in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Bank also reported its 7th consecutive year of record net income with $47.8 million or $32.22 per diluted share, for the year ending December 31, 2022; this was $3.3 million more than the $44.5 million, or $30.14 per diluted share, for the year ending December 31, 2021. The improved net income versus the prior year was driven by the following factors:
- Average loans outstanding, excluding Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans, were $560 million higher in 2022 than the prior year, thereby increasing net interest income.
- Mark-to-market gains (“MTM”) on interest rate swaps in 2022 were $2.3 million higher than the prior year. The Bank entered into these swap agreements to hedge the interest rate risk associated with its ongoing origination of medium-term fixed rate commercial real estate loans.
- $6.9 million gain on sale in 2022 derived from earn-out provisions on the sale of an investment in the prior year. The initial gain recognized on the sale of this investment in the prior year was $3.4 million.
- $728,000 gain on sale of an office building that was no longer in use in 2022.
Partially mitigating the above were the following factors:
- $1.0 million deferred loan fees earned on PPP loans for which the outstanding loan balances were forgiven by the Small Business Administration in the current year compared to $5.7 million recognized in the prior year.
- $18.4 million provision for loan losses in 2022 compared to the $10.5 million provision for loan losses recorded in the prior year. The increase in the loan loss provisions was a function of the robust loan growth and some deterioration in the segment of the loan portfolio secured by office properties.
- The Bank recognized a $3.9 million loss in the current year on the sale of $34 million of available for sale corporate bonds yielding only 0.95%.
“In addition to seven consecutive years of record net income, we are very pleased to report record net loan growth of $536 million for the year ending December 31, 2022, after excluding the $32 million reduction in PPP loans,” said Steve Fleming, president and chief executive officer of River City Bank. “Our asset quality remains strong with virtually no delinquencies or non-performing loans; however, we remain cautious about the impact to the office segment of commercial real estate (approximately 20% of the Bank’s commercial real estate loan portfolio) due to the reduction in demand as employers provide work-from-home opportunities.”
“Operational efficiency remains a core competency for the Bank, as evidenced by our 28 percent efficiency ratio after excluding the swap MTM gain and the loss on sale of securities for the year ending December 31, 2022” said Anker Christensen, chief financial officer of River City Bank. “Though our total non-interest expense increased in 2022 over the prior year, our focus on high productivity and managing expenses continues to be evident by our continued low efficiency ratio.”
Shareholders’ equity for River City Bank on December 31, 2022 increased $45 million to $353 million, when compared to the $308 million as of December 31, 2021. The increase was driven by current year retained earnings, slightly offset by a $5.4 million net decrease in accumulated other comprehensive income as the increase in short and medium-term interest rates resulted in unrealized losses in the Bank’s investment securities portfolio which was partially offset by unrealized gains on certain interest rate swap contracts designated as cash flow hedges. The Bank’s capital ratio remains well above the regulatory definition for being Well Capitalized with a Tier 1 Leverage Ratio of 8.7% as of December 31, 2022.