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More banking companies are warning they might not survive.
April 2
Imperial Capital Bancorp Inc. in La Jolla, Calif., which must raise $218 million of capital quickly to satisfy regulators, is talking with several potential investors, Joe Kiley, its president and chief executive officer, said in a brief interview Thursday.
"We are making pretty good progress," said Kiley, who had been a consultant before he joined the company Oct. 1. "But are the regulators going to give us enough time should the interest mature? Who knows? I am hopeful that they will exercise patience with us."
Imperial disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last week that the California Department of Financial Institutions deemed its $4 billion-asset bank unit to be in critical condition and gave it until Dec. 14 to increase tangible shareholders’ equity significantly.
It must add at least $200 million of equity or achieve a ratio of tangible shareholders’ equity to total tangible assets of at least 9%, whichever is greater.
In the filing Imperial expressed doubt about reaching this goal. Based on Sept. 30 data, it would need $218.2 million to get to the prescribed capital level.
"To date, the company's efforts to achieve a capital investment, sale, strategic merger or some form of restructuring have been unsuccessful, and it is highly unlikely that the company will succeed in this endeavor and be able to comply with applicable regulatory requirements," the filing said.
In a separate filing Monday, the company said that it lost $30.6 million in the third quarter, compared with an $883,000 profit the year earlier. It reported a $24.8 million provision for loan losses, nearly two-and-a-half times the amount set aside the year before.
Nonperforming assets jumped 83%, to $387 million, or 9.58% of total assets.
