- Key insight: Popular is swapping CEOs for the second time in just over a year. It's doing so following a strong quarter that saw higher net income and increased capital returns.
- Expert quote: "Leading this organization has been truly a privilege. I leave with enormous satisfaction." —Javier Ferrer, CEO of Banco Popular
- Forward look: Chief Financial Officer Jorge Garcia will assume the top role on Sept. 1, with current Chief Risk Officer Lidio Soriano taking over as CFO.
Banco Popular President and CEO Javier Ferrer will retire at the end of August after 12 years at the firm, but only 13 months in the top job.
Ferrer, 64,
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Jorge Garcia, who has been at Popular for over two decades, was announced as Ferrer's successor. He will begin his tenure on Sept. 1.
During Thursday's call, Garcia expressed gratitude for "the opportunity to lead this great organization."
"I am fortunate to take on this role at a time of great momentum and enthusiasm. I do not take this responsibility lightly, and I hope to inspire my colleagues to continue building on that momentum for years to come," the incoming chief executive continued.
Popular Chief Risk Officer Lidio Soriano was tapped to fill Garcia's role, while Luis Sousa, who currently leads the bank's credit risk management division, has been named as the next chief risk officer.
Before Ferrer assumed the top job, he held many roles at Popular, including chief operating officer. He joined the San Juan company in 2014 as chief legal officer and general counsel of both Popular and its banking subsidiaries.
Read more:
Four factors that drove banks' blowout 2Q performance Banks face a dilemma: More loan growth or better margins? The top-performing 20 public banks with under $2B of assets in 2025 Will banks get in on the prediction market gold rush?
Ferrer took over as president and CEO in July 2025 following the retirement of longtime CEO Ignacio Alvarez.
"I want to express my profound gratitude to everyone that has been a part of my extraordinary journey at Popular, a journey full of challenges overcome, shared learnings, and above all, relationships with special people that I will always treasure," Ferrer said Thursday. "Leading this organization has been truly a privilege. I leave with enormous satisfaction."
Also on Thursday, the bank reported second-quarter net income of $278 million — up 32% year over year — and earnings per share of $4.35, outperforming consensus forecasts by nearly a dollar per share and up 41% from the same quarter last year. Popular raised its net interest income guidance to an increase of 8% to 9% for the year, up from its previous projection of a 5% to 7% bump.
Popular also announced a 20% increase to its quarterly common stock dividend and authorized a common stock repurchase program of up to $1 billion.
Garcia told analysts that the share-repurchase program is not time-bound, and the bank plans to execute buybacks in the $300 million to $400 million range in the back half of 2026, per its guidance. The CFO added that while Popular is "still open to optimizing" its capital stack, "the market rates are just not in our favor right now, and there's no reason for us to do that."
Popular has repurchased approximately $280 million in common stock to date in 2026 and, as of June 30, had fully utilized the $500 million common stock repurchase authorization previously approved in 2025, according to a press release. The bank "returned a total of $174 million to shareholders" in the second quarter through a combination of buybacks and dividends, according to Garcia.
The bank's incoming CEO closed the door on using M&A to accelerate a tax benefit.
Garcia told analysts the bank does not plan to chase acquisitions to unlock deferred tax assets tied to net operating losses that will begin expiring in 2028. Whole-bank M&A remains a low priority behind the company's internal transformation push, Ferrer added, with any bolt-on deal needing to clear a strict bar including cheaper deposits, a commercial focus, geographic fit and cultural alignment.
Pressed about the company's capital plans, Garcia confirmed that if Popular does raise cheaper preferred stock to optimize its capital structure, the proceeds would go toward "promptly" shrinking common equity by "a similar amount."
