United Community Banks to take Q4 charge of 41c a share

United Community Banks Inc. (UCBI) said Friday it will take a charge of 41 cents a share in its fourth quarter including a loss of 34 cents a share on the sale of bonds classified as available-for-sale (AFS) and an estimated pre-tax charge of about 7 cents a share from an FDIC special assessment related to the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank earlier this year. Analysts currently expect the bank to earn 53 cents a share in the fourth quarter, according to FactSet data. The bank also boosted its annual earnings outlook by 6 cents a share, related to its purchase of higher-yielding securities during the quarter. United Community Banks said it lost $52 million on the sale of AFS bonds yielding 1.46% and it purchased $264 million in AFS bonds yielding 5.36%. It also boosted its net interest income outlook by $9.6 million annually. United Community Banks stock is down 11.5% in 2023, compared to a 24.6% rise by the S&P 500 . The stock was not trading in the premarket early Friday.

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-29-23 0658ET

Copyright (c) 2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.