Dime Community Bancshares, Inc.

Second-quarter revenue was a record $126 million. Core EPS was $0.79 per share, up 23% versus the prior year. Core pretax pre-provision net revenue was $64 million, equal to 173 basis points of average assets. Reported NIM was 3.28%, and management said the run-rate NIM was closer to 3.22% versus 3.14% in the prior quarter, adjusted for day count, purchase accounting, and prepayment fees. Average earning assets were approximately $14.1 billion. Core cash operating expenses, excluding intangible amortization, were about $64 million. Loan loss provision was approximately $14 million, and the allowance to loans increased to 98 basis points. Tangible equity ratio crossed 9%, CET1 rose to 12%, and total capital ratio was 16.3%. Management expects core cash operating expenses for the remainder of 2026 to be between $130 million and $131 million, tax rate to be approximately 28.5%, and NIM to expand modestly in the third quarter with more pronounced expansion in the fourth quarter and in 2027. The company also said it expects to end up over 3.50% NIM by the fourth quarter of 2027, assuming the forward curve and competition behave as expected.

Stuart Lubow framed the quarter as evidence that Dime’s multi-year transformation is working: stronger organic growth, better deposits, a more diversified balance sheet, and better profitability. He emphasized that the company has added more than 15 deposit teams, 6 lending verticals, and 3 branch locations, and said the local market remains highly disrupted, which he sees as favorable for recruiting bankers and winning clients. He also highlighted the rebrand to Dime Commercial Bank as a reflection of the shift away from the legacy multifamily thrift model and said the bank is positioned for a significant loan repricing opportunity over the next 18 months.

Avinash Reddy focused on margin, capital, credit, and expense discipline. He said NIM has risen for 9 consecutive quarters, the run-rate NIM should be used as a 3.22% starting point, and that Dime has about $2.5 billion of adjustable and fixed-rate loans at a 4.25% weighted average rate that will reprice or mature over the next 18 months. He noted $1.9 billion of cash on the balance sheet, about $3.8 billion of floating-rate loans, and $350 million of hedges, and said the bank expects to operate with CET1 between 11.25% and 11.50% while resuming buybacks in the third quarter. On credit, he said the allowance is within the 90 basis points to 1% range, criticized loans were relatively flat, NPAs were down 28% sequentially, and the quarter’s provision mainly reflected investor CRE charge-offs, multifamily specific reserves, and business-loan growth. He guided remainder-of-year core cash operating expenses to $130 million-$131 million and the tax rate to about 28.5%.

Analysts pressed management on multifamily stress, ACL levels, loan growth, deposit pricing, buybacks, and expense discipline. Management said the multifamily increase was tied to about $26 million-$27 million near 90 days past due, with a $6 million specific provision, while also stressing that aggregate multifamily NPLs were down after disposing of $38 million held for sale and that the pre-2019 bucket has fallen to about $300 million. On capital, management reiterated that buybacks are expected to restart in the third quarter and that operating with a 11.25%-11.50% CET1 target is intended to support both growth and repurchases. On deposits and competition, they said the new teams are opening thousands of accounts, DDA is above 31%, cost of funds is about 1.64%, and competition is active but manageable given the bank’s business-focused funding mix.