CALIFORNIA BANCORP REPORTS NET INCOME OF $16.4 MILLION FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER AND $63.1 MILLION FOR THE FULL YEAR OF 2025

San Diego, Calif., Jan. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- California BanCorp (“us,” “we,” “our,” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BCAL), the holding company for California Bank of Commerce, N.A. (the “Bank”) announces its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025.

The Company reported net income of $16.4 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared to $15.7 million, or $0.48 per diluted share for the third quarter of 2025, and $16.8 million, or $0.51 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2024. The Company reported net income of $63.1 million, or $1.93 per diluted share, for the full year of 2025, compared to net income of $5.4 million, or $0.22 per diluted share for the full year of 2024.

“2025 was a transformational year for California BanCorp, with the successful completion and integration of our 2024 merger that extended our footprint over all the best markets in California,” said David Rainer, Chairman and CEO of the Company and Bank. “During the last year we also restructured and derisked our balance sheet. We reduced high-risk loans, improving our credit profile, and terminated our dependence on high cost brokered deposits while growing core deposits, lowering our cost of funds. We are now very well positioned and remain focused on the organic growth of loans and deposits through our relationship-based business model in all our markets.

“Strong earnings throughout the year and prudent capital management allowed us to continue creating shareholder value through the repurchase of our stock and the implementation of a quarterly dividend for our shareholders.

“The recent M&A activity has increased the scarcity of relationship-based commercial banks that offer a high-touch service model like ours to small and middle-market businesses. With the traction we are achieving after a transformative year, and a footprint covering the very best markets in the state, and arguably the country, we believe there is a very bright future for our franchise. As we reported earlier this week, we added five experienced bankers, including two veteran commercial bankers with deep roots in the community, to our Northern California team. We are well positioned for growth and to take advantage of any disruption in local commercial banking markets due to M&A, and we will continue to be opportunistic in adding high-level talent across all the markets we serve.

“Steven Shelton, our former CEO who retired in December, played a crucial role in helping us get to where we are today and we thank him for all the contributions he made to our success, and wish him all the best in his retirement.”

Fourth Quarter 2025 Highlights

Full Year 2025 Highlights

Fourth Quarter Operating Results

Net Income

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $16.4 million, or $0.50 per diluted share, compared with $15.7 million, or $0.48 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2025. Pre-tax, pre-provision income (non-GAAP 1) for the fourth quarter was $18.0 million, a decrease of $3.8 million from the prior quarter. The net income and diluted earnings per share increase were largely driven by higher net interest income after reversal of provision for credit losses and noninterest income, partially offset by higher noninterest expense primarily related to one-time severance costs and litigation settlements.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $42.9 million, compared with $42.5 million in the prior quarter. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to a $1.4 million decrease in total interest expense, partially offset by a $1.0 million decrease in total interest and dividend income in the fourth quarter of 2025, as compared with the prior quarter. During the fourth quarter of 2025, loan interest income decreased by $1.3 million, including a decrease of $640 thousand in accretion from the net purchase accounting discounts on acquired loans, partially offset by increases of $257 thousand in total debt securities income and $31 thousand in interest and dividend income from other financial institutions. The increase in interest income was mainly due to increases in average deposits in other financial institutions of $63.1 million, average total debt securities of $29.4 million, and average total loan balances of $6.9 million, partially offset by a decrease in average Fed funds sold/resale agreements of $2.7 million. The decrease in interest expense for the fourth quarter of 2025 was primarily due to a $981 thousand decrease in interest expense on interest-bearing deposits, the result of a 22 basis point decrease in the cost of average interest-bearing deposits and a $416 thousand decrease in total borrowing costs mostly related to the redemption of $20.0 million of 5.00% subordinated notes in September 2025, partially offset by a $42.7 million increase in average interest-bearing deposits.

Net interest margin for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 4.44%, compared with 4.52% in the prior quarter. The decrease was primarily related to a 26 basis point decrease in the total interest-earning assets yield, partially offset by a 19 basis point decrease in the cost of funds. The yield on total average interest-earning assets in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 5.82%, compared with 6.08% in the prior quarter. The yield on average total loans in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 6.31%, a decrease of 19 basis points from 6.50% in the prior quarter. Accretion income from the net purchase accounting discounts on acquired loans was $3.8 million, increasing the yield on average total loans by 51 basis points; the net amortization expense from the purchase accounting discounts on acquired subordinated debt and acquired time deposits premium increased the interest expense by $389 thousand, the combination of which increased the net interest margin by 36 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2025. In the prior quarter, accretion income from the net purchase accounting discounts on acquired loans was $4.5 million, increasing the yield on average total loans by 59 basis points; the net amortization expense from the purchase accounting discounts on acquired subordinated debt and acquired time deposits premium increased the interest expense by $559 thousand, the combination of which increased the net interest margin by 41 basis points.

Cost of funds for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 1.50%, a decrease of 19 basis points from 1.69% in the prior quarter. The decrease was primarily driven by a drop of 14 basis points in the cost of total borrowings, which was primarily due to the decrease in average total borrowings of $19.3 million from the redemption of the $20.0 million subordinated notes in September 2025, coupled with a 22 basis point decrease in the cost of average interest-bearing deposits. The amortization expense of $389 thousand from the purchase accounting discounts on acquired subordinated debt contributed 4 basis points to the cost of funds. Average noninterest-bearing demand deposits increased $49.5 million to $1.23 billion and represented 35.4% of total average deposits for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with $1.18 billion and 34.9%, respectively, in the prior quarter; average interest-bearing deposits increased $42.7 million to $2.25 billion during the fourth quarter of 2025. The total cost of deposits in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 1.43%, compared with 1.59% in the prior quarter. The cost of total interest-bearing deposits decreased 22 basis points primarily due to the Company’s ongoing strategy to pay off higher cost money market deposits, savings deposits and time deposits in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Average total borrowings decreased $19.3 million to $33.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, primarily due to the redemption of the $20.0 million subordinated notes in September 2025. The average cost of total borrowings was 8.19% for the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 8.33% in the prior quarter.

Reversal of Provision for Credit Losses

The Company recorded a reversal of provision for credit losses of $4.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2025, compared with $15 thousand in the prior quarter. Total net charge-offs were $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, which consisted of $2.8 million of gross charge-offs, offset by $42 thousand of gross recoveries. The reversal of provision for credit losses in the fourth quarter of 2025 included a $173 thousand reversal of provision for credit losses for unfunded loan commitments related to the decrease in unfunded loan commitments during the fourth quarter of 2025, coupled with a decrease in the loss rates used to estimate the allowance for credit losses on unfunded commitments. Total unfunded loan commitments increased $7.4 million to $886.4 million at December 31, 2025, compared to $879.0 million in unfunded loan commitments at September 30, 2025.

The provision for credit losses for loans held for investment in the fourth quarter of 2025 was a reversal of $4.2 million, a decrease of $4.4 million from a provision for credit losses of $221 thousand in the prior quarter. The decrease was driven primarily by the decreases in special mention loans and substandard accruing loans, changes in the reasonable and supportable forecast, primarily related to the economic outlook for California, and changes in the qualitative factors. The Company’s management continues to monitor macroeconomic variables related to changes in interest rates and the concerns of an economic downturn, and believes it has appropriately provisioned for the current environment.

Noninterest Income

Total noninterest income was $3.0 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase of $327 thousand compared with $2.7 million in the third quarter of 2025. Other charges and fees increased $644 thousand in the fourth quarter due primarily to higher income from equity investments. Bank owned life insurance income decreased $396 thousand in the fourth quarter as the previous quarter included a $400 thousand death benefit. No comparable death benefit income was recognized in the current quarter.

Noninterest Expense

Total noninterest expense for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $27.9 million, an increase of $4.5 million from total noninterest expense of $23.4 million in the prior quarter. Salaries and employee benefits increased $1.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2025 to $16.4 million primarily as a result of severance costs and related increases in payroll taxes. During the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company recorded non-recurring litigation settlements of $2.0 million.

Efficiency ratio (non-GAAP 1) for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 60.80%, compared with 51.75% in the prior quarter. Excluding severance costs and net litigation settlements, the efficiency ratio (non-GAAP 1) for the fourth quarter of 2025 would have been 52.72%.

Income Tax

In the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company’s income tax expense was $6.0 million, compared with $6.1 million for the third quarter of 2025. The effective rate was 26.7% for the fourth quarter of 2025 and 28.1% for the third quarter of 2025. The decrease in the effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2025 was primarily attributable to changes in the net benefit related to a low income housing investment, and the vesting and exercise of equity awards combined with changes in the Company’s stock price over time.

Balance Sheet

Assets

Total assets at December 31, 2025 were $4.03 billion, a decrease of $67.8 million or 1.7% from September 30, 2025. The decrease in total assets from the prior quarter was primarily related to a decrease in cash and cash equivalents of $159.3 million, partially offset by increases in available-for-sale debt securities of $25.5 million and loans, including loans held for sale, of $62.0 million, as compared to the prior quarter.

Loans

Total loans held for investment were $3.03 billion at December 31, 2025, an increase of $43.6 million, compared with September 30, 2025. During the fourth quarter of 2025, there were new originations of $149.7 million and net advances of $3.9 million, offset by loan payoffs of $87.4 million, transfer to loans held for sale of $19.8 million, and charge-offs of loans in the amount of $2.8 million. Total loans secured by real estate increased by $53.1 million, of which multifamily loans increased $26.6 million and 1-4 family residential loans increased by $628 thousand; commercial real estate and other loans increased by $59.7 million; and commercial and industrial loans increased by $10.8 million. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in construction and land development loans of $33.9 million and consumer loans decreased by $20.3 million. During the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company transferred its $17.3 million solar loan portfolio to held for sale at estimated fair value and recognized a charge-off of $2.5 million. The Company had $25.1 million in loans held for sale at December 31, 2025, compared with $6.7 million at September 30, 2025.

Deposits

Total deposits at December 31, 2025 were $3.37 billion, a decrease of $89.1 million from September 30, 2025. The decrease primarily consisted of decreases in noninterest-bearing demand deposits of $59.7 million, interest-bearing non-maturity deposits of $17.6 million, and non-brokered time deposits of $11.7 million. Noninterest-bearing demand deposits at December 31, 2025, were $1.18 billion, or 35.0% of total deposits, compared with $1.24 billion, or 35.8% of total deposits at September 30, 2025. At December 31, 2025, total interest-bearing deposits were $2.19 billion, compared with $2.22 billion at September 30, 2025. At December 31, 2025, total brokered time deposits were maintained at $3.8 million. The Company offers the Insured Cash Sweep (ICS) product and Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS), each of which provides reciprocal deposit placement services to fully qualified large customer deposits for FDIC insurance among other participating banks. Total reciprocal deposits were $743.6 million, or 22.1% of total deposits at December 31, 2025, compared with $770.3 million, or 22.3% of total deposits at September 30, 2025.

Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) and Liquidity

At December 31, 2025 and September 30, 2025, the Company had no FHLB or Federal Reserve Discount Window borrowings.

At December 31, 2025, the Company had available borrowing capacity from an FHLB secured line of credit of approximately $749.3 million and available borrowing capacity from the Federal Reserve Discount Window of approximately $327.8 million. The Company also had available borrowing capacity from four unsecured credit lines from correspondent banks of approximately $90.5 million at December 31, 2025, with no outstanding borrowings. Total available borrowing capacity was $1.17 billion at December 31, 2025. Additionally, the Company had unpledged liquid securities at fair value of approximately $192.6 million and cash and cash equivalents of $399.9 million at December 31, 2025.

Total borrowings decreased $389 thousand to $33.8 million at December 31, 2025.

Asset Quality

Total non-performing assets were $16.1 million, or 0.40% of total assets at December 31, 2025, compared with $15.6 million, or 0.38% of total assets at September 30, 2025. Total non-performing loans were $16.1 million, or 0.53% of total loans held for investment at December 31, 2025, compared with $15.6 million, or 0.52% of total loans held for investment at September 30, 2025.

The increase in total non-performing loans was primarily due to a downgrade of an SBA guaranteed commercial and industrial loan of $223 thousand, net of the $83 thousand charge-off of the unguaranteed portion, and $302 thousand net increase in existing non-performing loan balances, partially offset by a $39 thousand full charge-off of a separate commercial and industrial loan during the fourth quarter of 2025.

Special mention loans decreased by $26.0 million during the fourth quarter of 2025 to $72.4 million at December 31, 2025. The decrease in the special mention loans was due mostly to $28.9 million in loans upgraded to a pass rating, $3.4 million in payoffs and $3.9 million in loans downgraded to substandard, and $2.4 million in net paydowns, partially offset by $12.6 million in loans downgraded from a pass rating. Substandard loans decreased by $24.0 million during the fourth quarter of 2025 to $60.7 million at December 31, 2025. The decrease in the substandard loans was due primarily to $13.8 million in payoffs, $14.8 million in loans upgraded to a pass rating, $249 thousand in charge-offs and $1.5 million in net paydowns, partially offset by $2.5 million in loans downgraded from pass rating and $3.9 million in loans downgraded from special mention rating.

The Company had no loans that were over 90 days past due and still accruing interest at December 31, 2025 and September 30, 2025.

Loan delinquencies (30-89 days past due, excluding nonaccrual loans) totaled $14.7 million at December 31, 2025, compared with $3.2 million in such loan delinquencies at September 30, 2025. The increase was primarily due to an $8.0 million multifamily loan, a $5.8 million commercial real estate loan, and $824 thousand commercial and industrial loan that became delinquent during the fourth quarter of 2025. In January 2026, the $8.0 million multifamily loan was repaid in full, the $5.8 million commercial real estate loan was downgraded to substandard, and the $824 thousand commercial and industrial loan was brought current.

The allowance for credit losses, which is comprised of the ALL and reserve for unfunded loan commitments, totaled $36.5 million at December 31, 2025, compared with $43.6 million at September 30, 2025. The $7.1 million decrease in the allowance for credit losses included a $4.2 million reversal of provision for credit losses for the loan portfolio, net charge-offs of $2.7 million and a $173 thousand reversal of provision for credit losses for unfunded loan commitments for the quarter ended December 31, 2025.

The ALL was $34.3 million, or 1.13% of total loans held for investment at December 31, 2025, compared with $41.3 million, or 1.38% at September 30, 2025.

Capital

Tangible book value per common share (non-GAAP 1) at December 31, 2025 was $13.79, compared with $13.39 at September 30, 2025. In the fourth quarter of 2025, tangible book value was primarily impacted by net income of $16.4 million for the fourth quarter, stock-based compensation activity, and a decrease in net of tax unrealized losses on available-for-sale debt securities, partially offset by the Company’s stock repurchase program activity and cash dividends. Other comprehensive losses related to net of tax unrealized losses on available-for-sale debt securities decreased by $431 thousand to $1.6 million at December 31, 2025, from $2.1 million at September 30, 2025. The decrease in the net of tax unrealized losses on available-for-sale debt securities was attributable to non-credit related factors, including a decrease in bond prices at the long end of the yield curve and the general interest rate environment. Tangible common equity (non-GAAP 1) as a percentage of total tangible assets (non-GAAP 1) at December 31, 2025, increased to 11.45% from 10.94% in the prior quarter, and net of tax unrealized losses on available-for-sale debt securities as a percentage of tangible common equity (non-GAAP 1) at December 31, 2025 decreased to 0.4% from 0.5% in the prior quarter.

The Company’s preliminary capital ratios exceed the minimums required to be “well-capitalized” at December 31, 2025.

Stock Repurchase Program

During the fourth quarter of 2025, the Company repurchased 122,428 shares of its common stock at an average price of $16.37 and a total cost of $2.0 million under the stock repurchase program. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the Company repurchased 211,928 shares of its common stock at an average price of $15.89 and a total cost of $3.4 million under the stock repurchase program. The remaining maximum number of shares authorized to be repurchased under this program was 1,388,072 shares at December 31, 2025.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA BANCORP

California BanCorp (NASDAQ: BCAL) is a registered bank holding company headquartered in San Diego, California. California Bank of Commerce, N.A., a national banking association chartered under the laws of the United States (the “Bank”) and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, is a wholly owned subsidiary of California BanCorp. Established in 2001 and headquartered in San Diego, California, the Bank offers a range of financial products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses through its 14 branch offices and four loan production offices serving Northern and Southern California. The Bank’s solutions-driven, relationship-based approach to banking provides accessibility to decision makers and enhances value through strong partnerships with its clients. Additional information is available at www.californiabankofcommerce.com.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

In addition to historical information, this release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding expectations, plans or objectives for future operations, products or services, loan recoveries, projections, and expectations regarding the adequacy of reserves for credit losses, as well as forecasts relating to financial and operating results or other measures of economic performance. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current view about future events and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ from those expressed in the forward-looking statement or historical results. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts and often include the words or phrases such as “aim,” “can,” “may,” “could,” “predict,” “should,” “will,” “would,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “hope,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “will likely result,” “continue,” “seek,” “shall,” “possible,” “projection,” “optimistic,” and “outlook,” and variations of these words and similar expressions.

Factors that could cause or contribute to results differing from those in or implied in the forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the impact of bank failures or other adverse developments at other banks on general investor sentiment regarding the stability and liquidity of banks; changes in real estate markets and valuations; the impact on financial markets from geopolitical conflicts; inflation, interest rate, market and monetary fluctuations and general economic conditions, either nationally or locally in the areas in which the Company conducts business; increases in competitive pressures among financial institutions and businesses offering similar products and services; general credit risks related to lending, including changes in the value of real estate or other collateral, the financial condition of borrowers, the effectiveness of our underwriting practices and the risk of fraud; higher than anticipated defaults in the Company’s loan portfolio; changes in management’s estimate of the adequacy of the allowance for credit losses or the factors the Company uses to determine the allowance for credit losses; changes in demand for loans and other products and services offered by the Company; the possibility that the Company may reduce or discontinue the payment of dividends on its common stock; the possibility that the Company may discontinue, reduce or otherwise limit the level of repurchases of its common stock that it may make from time to time pursuant to its stock repurchase program; the costs and outcomes of litigation; legislative or regulatory changes or changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines; and other risk factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and other documents the Company may file with the SEC from time to time.

Additional information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties to which our business and future financial performance are subject is contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and other documents the Company files with the SEC from time to time.

Any forward-looking statement made in this release is based only on information currently available to management and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to conform such forward-looking statements to actual results or to changes in its opinions or expectations, except as required by law.