Central Bancompany, Inc. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results, Declares Regular $0.12 Dividend and Authorizes $100 Million Share Repurchase

Second Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Aug. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Central Bancompany, Inc. (Nasdaq: CBC) (“Central Bancompany”, “the Company”, or “CBC”), the bank holding company for The Central Trust Bank (the “Bank”), today announced preliminary financial results for the second quarter 2026.

John “JR” Ross, President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Bancompany, commented "We are pleased to announce another set of solid financial results for Central in the second quarter of 2026. Second quarter net income was $113.8 million, or $0.47 per fully diluted share, reflecting a 2.24% ROA and a 25% fee income ratio, despite continued growth in net interest income. We are again encouraged by loan growth in the quarter, with ending loans excluding other consumer up approximately 6% annualized quarter-over-quarter. Average deposits grew by $0.4 billion, or 3%, including growth of over $276 million in average noninterest-bearing demand balances from the prior year quarter’s balances.”

“Our second quarter financial results reflect the strength of our diversified and customer-centric business model,” Ross continued. “We are fortunate to report another quarter of steady growth heading into the second half of the year. We also continue to invest in our underpenetrated metro markets, opening three new full-service branches during the second quarter to support our long-term growth strategy. While economic conditions remain generally favorable, we are mindful that uncertainty persists across the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape. I would like to thank our teammates for their tireless efforts delivering for our clients, communities and fellow shareholders.”

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

The Company reported net interest income of $212.8 million in the second quarter of 2026, reflecting a net interest margin of 4.40% (4.43% on an FTE basis 1). Net interest income increased $17.7 million from the second quarter of 2025, driven by NIM expansion and solid underlying average earning asset growth of $1.1 billion, or 6%, resulting from deposit growth and higher capital. In the second quarter of 2026, loans grew at an annualized rate of 6%, excluding the reduction in other consumer loans, and net interest margin increased to 4.40% from 4.26% in the prior year quarter.

Average earning assets for the quarter totaled $19.4 billion, a decrease of $0.2 billion, or 1%, from the prior quarter. The decrease in average earning assets from the prior quarter was largely driven by a seasonal decrease in average deposits.

Average total loans held for investment were $11.6 billion for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of $0.1 billion, or 1% from the prior quarter, despite deemphasizing indirect consumer lending, which declined $37.8 million from the prior quarter’s average. Excluding other consumer loans, average total loans held for investment increased $177.6 million or 2% over the prior quarter due to loan growth spread across a number of categories and markets. Total loans ended the quarter at $11.7 billion, $92 million above the average for the quarter, reflecting continued loan growth momentum.

Average total deposits were $15.4 billion for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of $0.4 billion, or 3% from prior year quarter. The increase from the prior year quarter was driven by higher noninterest bearing deposits, which rose $0.3 billion, or 5%, and interest bearing non-maturity deposits, which were up $0.3 billion or 4%. The cost of deposits was 1.10% for the second quarter of 2026, a decrease of 9 basis points from the prior year quarter.

The net interest margin increased to 4.40%, an increase of 13 basis points from the prior year quarter and 8 basis points from the prior quarter. The increase from the prior year quarter was driven primarily by increases in deposits and capital that were deployed into securities, the continued repricing of our back book of loans and securities into a higher rate environment, and a reduction in deposit rates despite the competitive environment. The increase from the prior quarter was driven primarily by an increase in loan balances and a decrease in higher priced, seasonal deposit balances.

Provision for credit losses

The provision for credit losses was $3.5 million for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 12.4% from the prior quarter driven primarily by loan growth and net charge-offs of $3.0 million. The allowance for credit losses ended the quarter at $150.4 million, up slightly from the prior quarter end and representing 1.29% of loans held for investment. The allowance rate reflects continued stable credit quality trends and an ongoing shift in portfolio composition toward higher credit quality loans.

Noninterest income

Total noninterest income was $69.6 million for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of $19.5 million or 38.9% from the prior year quarter, reflecting higher wealth management revenues and solid growth in other fee revenue channels. The prior year quarter included the $13.6 million impact of the loss on the expected sale of consumer lease portfolio in other income. During the current quarter, we recognized $8.4 million of gains from our holdings of Visa B shares and selectively repositioned certain securities at a $7.8 million loss to take advantage of attractive opportunities in the market.

Wealth management revenues (revenue from brokerage services and fees for fiduciary services) increased $3.9 million, or 20%, over the prior year quarter and $1.0 million from the prior quarter. Assets under advice increased to $17.3 billion, up from $14.2 billion in the prior year quarter and $16.0 billion in the prior quarter.

Noninterest expense

Noninterest expense totaled $131.4 million for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of $4.6 million from the second quarter 2025. On a year over year basis, salaries and benefits expenses increased $5.3 million, or 7%. Similar to last quarter, the year over year increase was attributable to merit and other salary increases and higher compensation costs associated with higher levels of performance. Additionally, in the second quarter, there was a $1.0 million expense for certain deferred compensation plans, with an equal offset in other noninterest income.

All other expense categories were generally well managed compared to the prior year period, with modest increases in occupancy and technology costs consistent with continued investment in our branch network and infrastructure. The prior year quarter contained $1.9 million of residual value losses in the consumer lease portfolio in other expenses. Our efficiency ratio (FTE) 1 was 46.1% for the quarter, compared to 45.7% in the prior quarter and 48.4% in the second quarter of the prior year, underscoring continued expense discipline and revenue tailwinds.

Provision for income taxes

The second quarter 2026 provision for income taxes was $33.7 million, $0.8 million higher than the prior quarter primarily driven by the increase in book income quarter over quarter. The current quarter’s effective tax rate of 22.8% is consistent with the effective tax rate for prior periods.

Asset quality

Asset quality remained strong. Nonperforming assets at June 30, 2026 were $60.2 million, or 30 basis points of total assets, up only slightly from 28 basis points at the end of the prior year quarter. Net charge-offs were $3.0 million for the quarter, 10 basis points (annualized) of average total loans. Credit costs remained in line with prior quarters.

Delinquent loans at June 30, 2026 were $25.3 million, or 22 basis points of loans held for investment, as compared to 24 basis points at the end of the prior year quarter.

Capital

Capital levels at June 30, 2026 remained very strong. Our CET1 ratio was 28.6% and represented $1.9 billion of excess capital when compared to our long-term CET1 target of 13.5%. The Bank’s CET1 ratio was 12.7% at June 30, 2026. The difference in the consolidated capital ratio and the capital ratio at the Bank represents capital that is readily available to be deployed.

Our book value per share at June 30, 2026 was $16.14, whereas our tangible book value per share 1 was $14.68, of which $6.70 per share represents core tangible book value, with the remaining $7.98 per share attributable to excess capital.

Dividend Payout and Capital Actions

On August 3, 2026, the Board of Directors of the Company declared a cash dividend of $0.12 per common share payable on September 1, 2026 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 21, 2026.

The Company repurchased approximately 280,000 shares of common stock during the second quarter of 2026 for approximately $7.6 million. On August 3, 2026, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million of the Company’s Class A common stock, rescinding and replacing the prior authorization.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

The Company will host a conference call and webcast at 9:00 a.m. CT on Tuesday, August 4, 2026. The call may include discussion of Company developments, forward-looking statements and other material information about business and financial matters. This press release and a related slide presentation will be accessible on the Company’s investor relations website https://investor.centralbank.net. The call can be accessed via this same website or by using the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/fgiw74rw/. A recorded replay of the conference call will be available on the website after the call’s completion.

About Central Bancompany, Inc.

Central Bancompany, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Jefferson City, Missouri, with approximately $20.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2026. Its banking subsidiary, The Central Trust Bank, has been serving businesses and customers since 1902. The bank is built on a strong foundation of people, community service, and technology. The Central Trust Bank is a Missouri state-chartered trust company with banking powers and a Federal Reserve state member bank, serving consumers and businesses in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Florida. Divisions of The Central Trust Bank include Central Trust Company and Central Investment Advisors.

Non-GAAP Financial Information

In this release, we provide information about certain non-GAAP financial measures. This information supplements the results that are reported according to generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) and should not be viewed in isolation from, or as a substitute for, GAAP results. The differences between the non-GAAP financial measures and the nearest comparable GAAP financial measures are reconciled later in this release. We are presenting these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe, when taken collectively, they may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. The non-GAAP measures as defined by the Company may not be comparable to similar non-GAAP measures presented by other companies.

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1This is a non-GAAP financial measure management believes is helpful to understanding trends in our business that may not be fully apparent based only on the most comparable GAAP financial measure. Further information on this financial measure and a reconciliation to the most comparable GAAP financial measure is provided at the end of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of, and intended to be covered by, the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to our operations and business, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of our business strategy. These forward-looking statements are generally identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” “would” and, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology and expressions. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. We have based the forward-looking statements contained herein on our current expectations and projections about future events and trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. The outcome of the events described in these forward-looking statements is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors described in “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements,” Part I Item 1A - "Risk Factors" and Part II Item 7 - "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's 2025 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all risks and uncertainties that could have an impact on the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. Our statements should not be read to indicate that we have conducted an exhaustive inquiry into, or review of, all potentially available relevant information. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions which are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. Therefore, actual results and outcomes may materially differ from what is expected, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and you are cautioned not to unduly rely upon these statements. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Current quarter, prior quarter and prior year quarter information is provided on pages 5-8 below.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures Reconciliations

In this release, we provide information about certain non-GAAP financial measures. This information supplements the results that are reported according to generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP) and should not be viewed in isolation from, or as a substitute for, GAAP results. We are presenting these non-GAAP financial measures because we believe, when taken collectively, they may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. The non-GAAP measures as defined by the Company may not be comparable to similar non-GAAP measures presented by other companies.

We disclose net interest income and related ratios and analysis on a fully taxable-equivalent (“FTE”) basis, which may be considered non-GAAP financial measures. We believe this presentation to be the preferred industry measurement of net interest income as it provides a relevant comparison of net interest income arising from taxable and tax-exempt sources. In addition, certain performance measures, including the efficiency ratio and net interest margin utilize net interest income on a taxable-equivalent basis.

We evaluate our profitability and performance based on adjusted net income, adjusted total revenue, adjusted noninterest income, adjusted fee income, adjusted fee income ratio and adjusted return on average total assets. We adjust each of these measures to exclude the loss on the expected sale of the consumer loan portfolio in one of our markets and adjustments that resulted from certain investment portfolio repositioning activities during the periods presented that we consider to be outside of the ordinary course of business. We believe this allows investors to assess our net income, total revenue and noninterest income exclusive of the impact of changes outside the ordinary course of business. Similarly, we evaluate our operational efficiency based on tangible noninterest expense and our adjusted efficiency ratio, which excludes the effect of amortization of intangibles (a non-cash expense item) as well as the exclusions mentioned previously in this paragraph, and includes the tax benefit associated with our tax-advantaged loans.

We evaluate our financial condition based on the ratios of our tangible common equity to our tangible assets, tangible book value per share, return and adjusted return on average common equity, and return and adjusted return on average tangible common equity. Our calculation of these ratios allows readers to assess our stockholders’ equity, exclusive of the effect of our goodwill and other intangible assets.

Reconciliations for each of these non-GAAP financial measures to the closest GAAP financial measures are included in the tables below. Each of the non-GAAP financial measures presented should be considered in context with our GAAP financial results included in this release.