- Forward look: Amerant will conduct a search for a permanent replacement for departed CEO Jerry Plush. The company said it would likely consider outside candidates, as well as interim CEO Carlos Iafigliola.
- Expert quote: Increased levels of problem loans “put pressure on management credibility,” Piper Sandler analyst Stephen Scouten wrote in a recent research note.
- Key insight: The company’s shares have trended down for most of the year, following a $165 million equity raise in 2024.
A week after singling out Amerant Bancorp’s increased levels of nonperforming loans as a challenge demanding immediate attention, Jerry Plush agreed to step down as chairman and CEO of the $10.4 billion-asset company.
Plush’s departure came Tuesday, and Coral Gables, Florida-based Amerant disclosed it Thursday. The decision was mutual, according to Amerant.
Amerant’s board appointed Odilon Almeida Jr., who had been serving as lead independent director, to succeed Plush as chairman. Chief Operating Officer Carlos Iafigliola will serve as interim CEO, the bank said.
Amerant’s board will conduct a search for a permanent CEO. It said that it expects to consider outside candidates, as well as Iafigliola.
Plush became CEO in March 2021. He was named chairman a year later. Amerant performed well during his first three years, reporting annual profits totaling $208 million. The company began experiencing difficulties in 2024, with nonperforming assets more than doubling, to $122.2 million on Dec. 31.
Amerant had appeared to be making some headway in addressing its credit quality issues earlier this year.
It reported a sharp drop in nonperforming assets for the quarter ending June 30, but then they ticked up again, reaching $140 million at the end of the third quarter. In an Oct. 28 research note, Piper Sander analyst Stephen Scouten stated the increase in problem loans “put pressure on management credibility.”
Amerant completed a $165 million equity raise in September 2024, which Plush described in a press release at the time as a “testament to investor confidence in our vision and the Company’s future.”
Shares initially performed well, rising about 24% in the first two months after the stock sale. Since then, they’ve slid more than 30%. Amerant’s stock was trading at $17.07 Thursday afternoon.
Amerant reported its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 28, five days after the report had originally been scheduled to be released. The bank said the delay would allow it “to complete its customary review process and quarter end closing procedures.”
During the third quarter, the bank recorded net income totaling $14.7 million, down from $23 million for the quarter ending June 30. Amerant lost $15.8 million in 2024.
On Thursday, Piper Sandler’s Scouten called Plush’s departure “a necessary and logical step forward for Amerant.” The CEO’s transformation plans for the company have “clearly not gone as well as hoped,” Scouten said in a note to investors.
Amerant’s difficulties weren’t confined to its loan portfolio. The announcement of a leadership change comes one month after an unfavorable ruling in a high-stakes lawsuit against the bank.
In the suit, an entity that had agreed to buy distressed loans from Amerant alleged that the bank secretly made a deal with another party at a higher price before the formal transfer took place.
The debt at issue was worth more than $8.9 million, according to the lawsuit. But the plaintiffs are also seeking punitive damages, and last month, after Amerant sought to strike the punitive damages claim, a federal judge ruled against the bank.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that the ruling opens the door for them to pursue total damages that could far exceed $10 million.
Iafigliola, who joined Amerant in 2004, had served as the bank’s chief operating officer since June 2023. He was chief financial officer for three years prior to that.
“I am honored to be named Interim CEO of Amerant to help lead the Bank through its next phase of sustainable and profitable growth,” Iafigliola said Thursday in a press release.
“The Board is fully supportive of Carlos and the management team, and expects them to take all necessary actions to ensure that we make meaningful progress on our strategy, even in this interim period,” Almeida Jr. added in the release.
Plush made a number of significant strategic decisions during his four years helming Amerant.
In November 2024, the bank completed the sale of six Houston area branches and nearly $600 million of loans to Oklahoma City-based MidFirst Bank. It opted to exit Texas to
Plush also invested substantial capital in a series of deals with
