Flushing Financial Corporation

Third-quarter 2025 GAAP EPS was $0.30 and core EPS was $0.35. Core earnings improved 55% year over year. GAAP net interest margin was 2.64% and core net interest margin was 2.62%, each up 10 basis points sequentially; core net interest income increased $8.6 million, or a little over 19%, year over year. Net charge-offs were 7 basis points, and nonperforming assets were 70 basis points of total assets versus 75 basis points in the prior quarter. Average noninterest-bearing deposits rose 5.7% year over year and 2.1% sequentially. Tangible common equity to tangible assets was 8.01%, and liquidity stood at $3.9 billion of undrawn lines and resources. For the remainder of 2025, management expects total assets to remain stable, NIM to benefit from $770 million of retail CDs maturing in Q4 at a 3.98% weighted average rate, $175 million of loans repricing/maturing higher by 128 basis points in Q4, no swap maturities for the rest of the year, approximately $59 million of back-to-back swap loans closing by year-end, BOLI income of $2 million per quarter, core noninterest expense growth of 4.5% to 5.5% for 2025 versus the 2024 base of $160 million, and an effective tax rate of 24.5% to 26.5%.

John Buran said the company is making “strong third quarter results” and continuing momentum from the first half of the year despite macro uncertainty. He emphasized the three strategic priorities: improving profitability, maintaining credit discipline, and preserving liquidity and capital. Buran also highlighted the Asian banking communities as an important growth engine, saying deposits in that segment reached $1.4 billion and that the company has only about 3% market share in a $47 billion market, leaving what he described as “tremendous opportunity” ahead.

Susan Cullen focused on margin expansion and repricing as the main earnings drivers. She said real estate loans are expected to reprice about 147 basis points higher through 2027, with contractual annualized NII increases of $2 million from Q4 2025 repricings, $11 million from 2026 repricings, and $15 million from 2027 repricings. She also pointed to average total deposits of $7.3 billion, a deposit cost of 3.11%, the late-September 20 to 25 basis point reduction on about $1.8 billion of deposits, and $2.4 billion of CDs that are 33% of total deposits; about $770 million of CDs mature in Q4 at 3.98% versus current CD rates of 3.40% to 3.75%. Cullen framed the balance sheet as still “a little bit liability sensitive,” but moving toward neutral, and said capital should grow as profitability improves.

Analysts pressed on the sustainability of NIM benefits, deposit betas, swap roll-offs, and capital return. Management said the nonrecurring/episodic NIM benefits were elevated in Q3 but should remain somewhat elevated, and that the end-of-September NIM was 2.68%, above the quarterly average. On swaps, they said maturities are being partly offset by forwards, with about $180 million of forwards coming back on, so the margin impact should be small overall. On buybacks, John Buran said the company is prioritizing the dividend and keeping capital available for portfolio growth rather than shrinking the balance sheet; when asked about double-digit ROTCE/ROE, he said he thinks there is a line of sight to that “in late 2027.”