On Friday, USCB Financial Holdings (NASDAQ:USCB) discussed first-quarter financial results during its earnings call. The full transcript is provided below.

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Summary

USCB Financial Holdings reported a record Q1 2026 with net income of $9.4 million and a GAAP EPS of $0.51.

Total assets grew to $2.8 billion, loans increased by 10.1% year over year, and deposits rose by 8%, highlighting strong business vertical performance.

Net interest margin expanded to 3.27%, driven by effective asset deployment and improved funding costs.

Loan production was strong with $188 million in gross loan production, and credit quality remained excellent with low non-performing loans and no charge-offs.

USCB Financial Holdings plans to expand its physical presence in Broward and Palm Beach counties, leveraging existing customer bases and growth opportunities.

The company maintained a robust capital position, increasing tangible book value per share by 8.9% year over year.

Strategic initiatives include expanding specialized business verticals and focusing on relationship-driven banking.

Full Transcript

OPERATOR

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Q1 2026 USCB Financial Holdings Inc. Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in a listen only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question you may press STAR and then one on your touchtone telephones. To withdraw your questions you may press star and 2. Please also note today's event is being recorded. At this time. I'd like to turn the conference call over to Lou de la Aguilera, Chairman, President and CEO. Sir, please go ahead.

Lou de la Aguilera (Chairman, President and CEO)

Good morning and thank you for joining us for the USCB Financial Holdings First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. I'm Lou de la Aguilera, Chairman, President and CEO of USCB Financial Holdings. Joining me today are Rob Anderson, our Chief Financial Officer and Bill Turner, our Chief Credit Officer. Rob will walk you through our financial results in detail and Bill will review credit quality and portfolio trends. We are very pleased to report on another record quarter highlighted by strong core earnings, disciplined balance sheet execution and our continued focus on maintaining strong credit quality. For the quarter ending March 31, 2026, the company generated net income of 9.4 million or $0.51 per diluted share on a GAAP basis. On an operating or adjusted basis, diluted EPS was $0.47, operating ROA was 125, ROAE was 15.92percent and an efficiency ratio of 52.36%. These results reflect consistent execution of our long term business model focused on disciplined growth, prudent risk management and sustainable profitability at a high level. Total assets reached $2.8 billion up 6.3% year over year. Loans increased 10.1% year over year from 2.2 billion to driven by continued strong diversified production. Deposits grew 8% year over year to 2.5 billion, supported by specialized business verticals as well as well diversified deposit base. Our deposit focused business verticals, namely association banking, our private client group and correspondent banking have delivered have steadily grown to 30% of deposits or 747 million as of March 31, 2026, a 62 million quarter over quarter increase. Net interest margin expanded to 3.27% up from 3.1% the prior year reflecting effective asset deployment and improving funding costs. Importantly, this growth has not come at the expense of credit quality. Non performing loans remain exceptionally low at point of total loans and net charge offs were effectively zero for the quarter. Our first quarter's performance demonstrates the benefits of actions we have taken over the past several quarters to enhance earning power and balance sheet resilience. Loan production was strong during the quarter with 188 million in gross loan production, over half of which occurred in March, positioning us for continued momentum into the second quarter. While the timing of production limited full quarter earnings contribution, the pipeline supports future net interest income expansion. On the funding side, we continue to see the benefits of our specialized deposit franchises. Average deposits increased by nearly 212 million year over year while deposit costs declined to 2.2%, improving by 29 basis points from the first quarter of last year. Capital remains a key strength of the company. During April, our board declared a quarterly cash dividend of 12.5 cents per share, reflecting confidence in our earning durability and capital generation. Tangible book value per share increased to $12.23, an 8.9% year over year increase even after absorbing the market. Related AOCI impacts Overall this was a balanced quarter with strong earnings, solid growth, stable margins and strong credit quality all while maintain conservative capital levels. The following page is self explanatory, directionally highlighting nine select historical trends since recapitalization. Consistent, efficient, profitable performance based on conservative risk management is what our team focuses on consistently delivering. Noting this overview, I'll now turn over the call to Rob to review our financial results in greater detail.

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Okay, thank you Lou and good morning everyone. Looking at Pages 5 and 6, I would describe the first quarter of 2026 as a highly successful quarter for USC. The team posted very solid results which I'm proud to share with you today. The balance sheet, specifically the loan book, continues to grow within our stated range of high single to low double digit growth. Deposits increased this quarter, outpacing loan growth and ensuring sufficient liquidity for future lending. Credit remains solid and our profitability ratios came in line with internal projections. While we made $0.51 on a GAAP basis, the company recognized a 619,000 income tax benefit in the quarter due to an adjustment of the deferred tax asset relating to 2025. Adjusting our GAAP figures for this one item, you'll find the operating or adjusted Numbers on page 6. This includes operating return on average assets of 1.25%, operating return on average equity of 15.92%, efficiency ratio of 52.36%, operating diluted earnings per share of $0.47, NPA to assets of 0.13%, allowance for credit losses stable at 1.16%, total risk based capital at 14.09% and last tangible book value per share at $12.23. So with that overview, let's discuss deposits on the next page. Average deposits for the quarter totaled approximately 2.4 billion, representing an increase of 212 million year over year. On a linked quarter basis, average deposits declined by 26 million. And that sequential movement requires some context. Late in the fourth quarter, a large commercial plant withdrew approximately 130 million, which reduced our average balance deposit entering the first quarter. Importantly, this was anticipated and managed outflow and at the end of the period chart that demonstrates we have since recovered from that decline. On an end of period basis, total deposits increased by 149 million during the quarter, highlighting both the resilience of our franchise and our ability to respond quickly to large discrete client movements. Equally important is the deposit pricing. Total deposit cost declined 8 basis points quarter over quarter to 2.2%, which played a meaningful role in allowing us to keep the net interest margin stable. With ongoing rate volatility, we anticipate deposit costs will stay near current levels. Although some competitors are offering higher rates, a relationship driven deposit base should ensure stable pricing and funding. So with that, let's move on to the loan book. On an average basis, loans increased 46.8 million quarter over quarter, which equates to an 8.9% annualized growth rate year over year. Average loans grew 9.6% and well within management's expectations. Net loan growth at the end of the period was 52 million, showing strong production momentum. And two key dynamics stood out on this first, a significant portion of our loan production occurred late in the quarter, and second, loan payoffs occurred early in the quarter. This timing is visible in the chart and translates to a lower earnings impact in the quarter. More Specifically, on page 9, gross loan production totaled 188 million during the quarter, with 114 million or 60% closing in March. Additionally, SOFR rates were lower for most of the quarter, further influencing loan loan yield metrics. Correspondent banking loans represented 30% of quarterly production and carried a new loan yield of 5.13%. Excluding this segment, the weighted average yield on the new loan production was 6.2% for the quarter. It's important to remember that these correspondent loans are short term in nature, typically 180 days tied to SOFR and serve a strategic purpose by adding asset sensitivity and optionality to the balance sheet. Additionally, these banks have over $250 million in low cost deposits with significant wire volume, a very profitable business vertical for uscb. Looking ahead, we expect new loan production yields to remain around these levels. Turning to page 10, net interest margin was flat at 3.27% for the quarter. Despite successfully lowering deposit costs, overall margin was impacted by lower than expected loan interest income, largely driven by timing and volatility rather than structural pressure. Specifically, interest income was constrained, as mentioned before, by a combination of factors. Loan closings that occurred late in the quarter, elevated payoffs early in the period and lower SOFA rates throughout much of the quarter. These pressures were partially offset by improvements in deposit pricing and higher yields in the securities portfolio, which helps stabilize our margin. Importantly, we have now expanded the NIM quarter after quarter and the underlying trajectory remains intact. As recently originated loans season into earnings, we expect incremental improvement in interest income, which should support a very modest margin expansion later this year. That said, ongoing rate volatility may limit the degree to which deposit costs can move materially lower from here, and our focus remains on disciplined pricing, balance sheet mix and execution, all aimed at protecting the margin while positioning the franchise for improved profitability. So with that, let me pass it over to Bill to discuss asset quality.

Bill Turner (Chief Credit Officer)

Thank you Rob and good morning everyone. As you can See from page 11, the first graph shows the allowance for credit losses increased to $26.1 million at the end of the first quarter and at an adequate 1.16% of the loan portfolio. We made a $602,000 loan provision to the allowance that was driven mostly by the $52 million in net loan growth. There were no loan losses during the quarter. The remaining graphs on page 11 show the non performing loans at quarter end grew by 6 basis points or almost $500,000. The non performing ratio stands at 0.16 of the portfolio and these loans are well covered by the allowance and compare favorably to peer banks that year end 2025. The increase was related to two past due residential real estate loans that are in the process of collection. All non performing loans are well collateralized and no losses expected. Classified loans also increased during the quarter to $6.8 million or 0.3% of the portfolio and represent 2.2% of capital. The increase is related to the two non performing residential loans previously mentioned. No losses are expected from the classified loan pool. The bank continues to have no other real estate. Overall, the quality of the loan portfolio is good. Now let me turn it back over to Rob.

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you Bill. Total non interest income for Q1 was 4.2 million, up from the previous quarter and accounting for 15.8% of total revenue. Service fee income reached 3.1 million, mainly driven by record swap fees of 1.6 million amid strong loan activity and strong sales execution with rate volatility in the quarter. While fee performance was exceptional this quarter, we expect swap related fees to normalize in Q2 as market conditions stabilize. Overall non interest income performance in the quarter highlights the diversification of our revenue streams and the value of our fee based capabilities. Let's take a look at our expenses. Our total expenses amounted to $13.7 million which is $564,000 less than the previous quarter, predominantly due to various one time items. In Q4 of last year, the efficiency ratio stood at 52.4% for the quarter which is consistent with prior periods. Additionally, headcount increased this quarter and more hires are planned for Q2. You should expect expenses to increase but at a measured pace and the efficiency ratio should remain in the low 50% range. In a minute Lou will speak about some specific strategies that will tie this together. So with that let's move on to capital. Capital ratios remain robust and continue to strengthen. Total risk based capital currently stands at 14.09%, the dividend remains at 12.5% and given our projected earnings and capital generation profile, we anticipate further improvement in capital ratios over the coming quarters. So with that, let me turn it back to Lou for some closing comments.

Lou de la Aguilera (Chairman, President and CEO)

Thank you Rob. Before we conclude, I would like to briefly expand on how our operating model is translating into tangible growth opportunities across South Florida, particularly in Miami Dade, Broward and Palm beach counties. In March of this year we launched a new lending team located in our recently remodeled Doral Headquarters Banking Center. This new production unit will focus on developing one of Miami Dade's densest small business high growth areas, the Airport West Market, encompassing the adjacent cities of Doral, Hialeah and Medley. US Century bank has banking centers in each of these markets and this new lending team will partner with each respective branch to leverage business development opportunities. Led by a proven senior lender as team leader along with two Business development officers and supported by Portfolio Manager and Lending Assistant. Existing staff has been reassigned to largely field this team. To round off this new production unit, a new senior CNI lender has been hired. In effect, this new team will have a total of two new production hires as the rest is composed from current team members. Another production unit which is expanding is our association banking team which was launched as a business vertical focused on the deposit-rich condominium market. This unit has grown to serve over 470 condominium associations in the Tri county market of which 136 are in the Broward Palm beach markets. At quarter end 2026, this business unit totaled 160 million in deposits, posting a 29% year over year deposit growth rate. The Association Banking team also closed Q1 2026 with $126 million in loans reflecting an 11.5% annual growth rate. Led by an experienced senior vice president, the Association Banking unit has hired a new production officer who will focus on developing Palm beach and the Treasure coast from Port St Lucie north to Vero beach. The Tri County Miami Dade MSA reports approximately 13,000 condominium associations housing over 600,000 condo units denoting a clear opportunity for growth. Since 2015, US Century bank has tactically adopted a branch light technology enabled model, consolidating our physical footprint from 18 locations to 10 while more than tripling the size of our balance sheet. This approach has allowed us to scale efficiently, deploy capital productively and service clients through relationship driven high touch model without the overhead associated with a traditional large branch network. Our investments in digital capabilities and centralized operations enable our bankers to focus on what matters most local market knowledge, speed of execution and client service. The results in Broward and Palm beach counties provide compelling proof of concept. As of March 31, 2026, the bank serves over 2,100 client across these two counties with approximately 445 million in loans and 415 million in deposits despite operating only one physical branch location between them. In Broward county alone, we have built a base of 1,850 customers supported by 234 million in loans, 259 million in deposits, while Palm Beach county has grown to 253 customers, 122 million in loans and 156 million in deposits. Importantly, this growth has been driven primarily through referral activity, direct calling efforts and our specialized verticals rather than reliance on a legacy branch of legacy branch traffic. These metrics reinforce our belief that there is substantial unmet demand for a commercially focused relationship driven bank led by local decision makers who understand the market. As a result, we believe the time is right to thoughtfully extend our physical presence by opening two to four strategically located branches in Broward and Palm beach counties over the next three years. These locations will be designed to complement, not duplicate our existing branch light strategy and will be staffed by proven local talent with deep market relationships allowing us to further capture market share, deepen client penetration and accelerate organic growth while maintaining strict discipline around returns and expense efficiency. We view this next phase of expansion not as a departure from our model, but as a natural evolution deploying physical offices where the data already demonstrates scale, profitability and long term opportunity. The three strategies I have just outlined align well with USCB's relationship driven business model. Growth in professional firms closely helped businesses and income producing real estate continues to generate high quality loans and deposit opportunities. Our specialized verticals and conservative underwriting allow us to participate in this growth while maintaining excellent credit quality. Simply put, Florida's strength maintains a powerful headwind for uscb. And while we believe the state's long term fundamentals continue to support sustainable growth opportunity for our franchise. With that said operator, we are now ready to open the line for Q and A.

OPERATOR

At this time we'll begin the question and answer session. To ask a question you may press STAR and then one using a touchtone telephone to withdraw your question you may press STAR and two, if you are using a speakerphone, please pick up your handset prior to pressing the keys to ensure the best sound quality. Once again, that is STAR and then one to join the question queue. Our first question today comes from Will Jones from kbw. Please go ahead with your question.

Will Jones (Equity Analyst)

Yeah, hey, thanks. Good morning, guys. Morning. Hey Rob. I wanted to start firstly on the margin this quarter. It felt like just with some of the loan dynamics with the payoffs early and the growth late that we didn't really get to see realized fully optimized margin. Just from the bond restructuring that you guys did and some of the liquidity deployment that you guys had planned. Is there a way to look at like what a March NIM would have looked like just as we think about a good starting point for the margin going forward?

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, on the margin. I mean our net interest income was down slightly. I mean you had the day count in there, of course, but also we had elevated payoffs real early in the quarter. We had some properties clients that sold, some properties that left. And then over around 60% of our loan production occurred in March. You know, the March margin was right around 328, so it's been pretty steady for the three months. I would anticipate all the additional earning assets that came in mainly in the last two weeks of March to help fuel the net interest income for the second quarter. We have a very strong pipeline right now, probably one of the strongest we've seen. April activity was strong on the loan side as well. So I would anticipate flat to slightly higher margin given what we're doing on the deposits. And we don't have to pay up for deposits either. So you know, I would model flat to slightly up near-term. Yeah. Do you have that? Just the new incremental deposits this quarter, just what that's costing and kind of what the competitive dynamics are looking like today. Yeah, so we grew about 149 million in the quarter and it was very broad based. Lou mentioned about 62 million of that came from our specialty verticals, meaning the private client group, correspondent banking and our homeowners association, which you know we've been emphasizing and will continue to put a lot of resources behind. The balance of it came across the board. And in the meantime we decreased the cost of the entire deposit book by 8 basis points in the quarter. So it's not like we are paying up for that funding. Our DDA has been strong in the early parts of April, so we feel pretty confident about maintaining kind of our deposit costs in or around the current levels. And I could tell you the specialty verticals have a much lower deposit cost than overall. For instance, our private client group deposit cost in that book, which is about a little over 2%. Correspondent banking is probably around 165 and our HOA loans are probably around a similar amount.

Will Jones (Equity Analyst)

Yeah. All right, that's great. That's a very helpful color. And then I guess just kind of curtailing a little on some of your final thoughts there. Feels like the next two, three, four or five years is going to be a pretty transformational period for you guys just in terms of what you want to do with the growth of the franchise. And I guess within that comes a little bit of upfront investment. As you guys talked about, it still feels like you're going to carry some pretty solid revenue momentum just from that growth. What is the right way to think about operating leverage as we look out maybe over this year and next and maybe curtail that on just some near term profitability goals that you guys might have?

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, it's a good question, Will. And we've been modeling that out. But we do have a really strong three year strategic plan. It does involve some investments, mainly moving up to Broward and Palm beach in addition to investing heavily in Miami Dade. I think the word that I would use will be measured. You know, we're clocking a 125 ROA, 16% on equity. You know, I do not see those materially moving down. Of course, asset quality has been our cornerstone, but we will be making investments. I think you can expect the expenses to tick up, but we're still growing the balance sheet at a double digit pace and compounding our equity around 16%. So that should translate into good earnings and returns for our shareholders that are well within kind of what I'd say is our current performance.

Lou de la Aguilera (Chairman, President and CEO)

And Will, to add to that, this is, Lou, to add to that, the fact that we've built out in Broward and Palm beach the portfolios we have in loans and deposits, over 445 million in loans, over 415 in deposits. That is as large as some smaller banks that are up there that have multiple branches. So we already have the demand. It's clear that proof of concept, over 2100 customers. And we feel that strategically opening banking centers, we can not only service those customers more readily, but also attract new ones. As you know, over the last decade there's been a lot of M and A activity in Broward and Palm beach and there's, I think, a wide open opportunity for us.

Will Jones (Equity Analyst)

Yeah, well, it's certainly a fun growth story to cover, so look forward to seeing what you guys do over the next few years. Thanks, guys.

OPERATOR

Thanks, Will. Our next question comes from Michael Rose from Raymond James. Please go ahead with your question.

Michael Rose (Equity Analyst)

Hey, good morning guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Just wanted to follow up on kind of the some of the deposit commentary. And I know that was kind of your number one priority coming into the year. You guys really executed both on the interest bearing front, but especially on the nib front mix remain relatively stable just as we think about some of the efforts to ramp up or continue loan growth at higher levels. And I think, Lou, you did a really good job outlining some of the priorities and strategies as we move forward. And I know you described some of the deposit aspects as well, but should we anticipate any change in that mix and then maybe just from a shorter term perspective, Rob, I mean, what are you assuming in terms of rate cuts, if any? It seems like the forward curve doesn't have any in there, just the ability to kind of put a cap on deposit costs for some of the growth in some of these specialty verticals. I know there's a lot in there, but just trying to frame up the deposit conversation. Thanks.

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, so maybe I'll start, I would say early in the quarter February timeframe. I mean, it seemed like rates were starting to move down. Then March hit and rates started moving back up. We're not anticipating rate cuts near term, but there's still, I think, one in the forward curve going forward. As a reminder, we still profile liability sensitive, you know, just slightly, which I think would benefit us. And we've been able to outperform our modeling. So I think if we do get the rate, rate cuts that will be beneficial to the margin. We have put a lot of emphasis on our deposit book because we feel that's where we add franchise values, having small, granular, low cost deposits across the board. So we've made investments in our private client group, in our HOA space, in our correspondent banking and of course in our business banking. And just how we price and go after deposits across the board. We're talking to the sales team constantly, whether it's in pipeline meetings or monthly leadership meetings. That is a heavy focus for us. But I think you can continue to see both the loans and deposits growing at double digits. We've given that guidance before. This quarter was a little bit outsized on the deposit side, but we needed that given what we had at year end. But I don't think the deposit cost is going to move materially next quarter unless we have a rate cut, which isn't anticipated at this time. So I would stop with that color unless Lou wants to add anything else to it.

Michael Rose (Equity Analyst)

Okay, perfect. I appreciate it. And then just I think I heard Rob earlier that you expect swap fees to normalize. Not surprised there. I think you kind of previously talked and the service charts were up this quarter, which is nice to see. I think previously talked about a four to four and a half million a quarter kind of run rate for fee income. I know it's a smaller piece relative to spread income for sure. But any updated thoughts there as we kind of move forward and you kind of grow out on the deposit side?

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Thanks. Yeah. On the non interest on the fee side, the swaps were the outstanding item in the quarter. I think the sales team really knows how to work with their customers position that as a product where they can choose either a fixed rate or a swap and that was elevated. February we had a fair amount that locked in at a little bit tighter spreads. March came in a little tighter, but February was a good month. I think you'll see the swap number come back down to maybe 700,000 a quarter and that would put maybe total fees, all else being equal, right around maybe 3.7 somewhere around there for the quarter. But certainly 4.1 was a nice quarter for us and a standout and the team did a great job.

Michael Rose (Equity Analyst)

Okay, great. And maybe just one final one for me. Obviously you guys continue to have really strong capital levels. They bumped up higher this quarter despite pretty strong balance sheet growth. Any sort of thoughts around normalized capital levels as you kind of execute upon these growth plans and maybe what that could translate to from either a ROTC or an ROA perspective Just over the next kind of the intermediate to Longer term, as we think about the story playing out with all the growth initiatives that you talked about earlier. Thanks.

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah. This year we increased our dividend to 12.5 cents a quarter. I think that will remain at that level for current time. You know, our capital is really supporting our growth. But when we're compounding our capital at 16, 17%, which I think is a great return for a bank our size, you know, we're going to build capital, you know, we're growing our earnings faster than our balance sheet. So that should continue to grow our capital levels. And I think our capital levels are good from where they are, but you know, we'll continue to deploy them and at a profitable pace as well. So, you know, we may rethink the dividend, but I would say that's pretty safe at the current levels for the balance of the year.

Michael Rose (Equity Analyst)

Great. Definitely a high class problem. Thanks for taking my questions, guys.

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Thank you, Michael.

OPERATOR

Our next question comes from Fetty Strickland from Hobdi. Please go ahead with your question.

Fetty Strickland (UNKNOWN)

Hey, good morning. It sounds like there's maybe still a little bit of room for the margin to grow from here, maybe on the yield side. And it looks like the weighted average yield on new production I think was around 620 is what you had in the deck. What's the pickup you're seeing there versus what you're seeing on loans rolling off, particularly maybe fixed rate CRE coming up for repricing?

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, it's a good question. I mean, I think our production, I mentioned this, the pipeline is really strong right now. It's probably one of the strongest that we've had in a long time and it's more balanced. Earlier in the quarter, outside of the correspondent piece which was a little bit lower this past quarter, the yields were around 620. I think today they're hovering right around that for really solid gold plated CRE type properties. But I would anticipate that we would be right around the same level. I don't see that moving significantly higher or significantly lower on the loan yield. We haven't changed our pricing significantly and our pipeline is really strong at those levels. So we tend to want to keep the sales team fixed with volume and pricing that is in the market today where we don't have to go chased up. And I think given where we are in terms of our growth and what we're putting on, you know, we don't have to go out and chase a lot of lower yielding assets. So I would say at or near the current levels would Be good for modeling. Fedi

Fetty Strickland (UNKNOWN)

and Rob, what I was trying to get at, do you have anything that's coming off at lower rates that's being replaced with that 620 or so? That's what I'm curious about.

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, yeah, we do. We have some stuff that, you know, that we were originating and you know, 21 that we're still at lower rates that will be moving off. I think we had a payoff the other day. I think it was at 485. That was probably maybe 7 to $10 million loan that came off. But we do. I don't have the exact number that's rolling off, but we would anticipate we had over $50 million of net loan growth. I think that's a good number to model for the coming quarter as well. Given our pipeline is similar to what we had, maybe a little bit more elevated.

Fetty Strickland (UNKNOWN)

Appreciate that that's helpful. And then on the correspondent banking side, obviously super strong growth there this quarter. Was that kind of expected or seasonal or was any of that driven by some of the geopolitical turmoil we've seen lately? Maybe you had some customers come in more there or is that not really a direct impact?

Lou de la Aguilera (Chairman, President and CEO)

No, that was planned. Freddie, we want to go that book responsibly. Our focus is the Caribbean Basin and Central America. To that effect. We have onboarded three new banks in this quarter and we are looking at an additional five. Our team just visited with one with our lead director, Central America. We do kind of quarterly visits and just like a domestic customer, they are eager for customer service execution and I think that we're poised to do that. And again, on the loans, keep in mind that the term of These loans are 180 days. And the business is really relationship driven because the loans, not all the banks borrow, but all of them have deposits and they're low cost deposits and we do a tremendous amount of wire activity. So for us it's a very good business and it gives us diversity on the loan side, cheap funding. And these are very established banks. We look very carefully at country risk and the banks by and large are very well capitalized and very established.

Fetty Strickland (UNKNOWN)

Great color. Thanks for that, Lou. And just one last quick one here, Rob. I know you guys have a one time tax item this quarter. What should we expect as a good kind of normalized tax rate going forward?

Rob Anderson (Chief Financial Officer)

Yeah, for modeling I'd use about 26.4%. I think that's a good rate to use going forward.

Fetty Strickland (UNKNOWN)

All right, perfect. Thanks for taking the questions.

OPERATOR

Thank you, Pat.

Howard Funglass (UNKNOWN)

Once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and then 1. To withdraw your questions, you may press star. And 2. Our next question comes from Howard Funglass from Freedom Capital. Please go ahead with your question. I hit it by accident, guys. Sorry. Mr. Fineglass, please proceed with your question. I believe he said that it was by accident, guys.

OPERATOR

It was by accident. And once again, if you would like to ask a question, please press star and 1. And in showing no additional questions at this time, I'd like to turn the floor back over to the management group for any closing comments.

Lou de la Aguilera (Chairman, President and CEO)

Thank you. In closing, the first quarter was an excellent start to 2026, effectively a strong kickoff to our three year strategic plan. We delivered record earnings, continued to grow the balances, prudently maintaining strong margins and preserve the outstanding credit quality while returning capital to shareholders. Our franchise remains well positioned in one of the most attractive banking markets in the country, supported by a differentiated business model, specialized vertical and a proven management team. We appreciate the continued confidence and support of our shareholders, clients and employees and look forward in speaking with you in the next quarter. So I wish you all a great day and thank you for your continued confidence in USCB Financial Holdings.

Disclaimer: This transcript is provided for informational purposes only. While we strive for accuracy, there may be errors or omissions in this automated transcription. For official company statements and financial information, please refer to the company's SEC filings and official press releases. Corporate participants' and analysts' statements reflect their views as of the date of this call and are subject to change without notice.