Esquire's adjusted earnings jump to $2.12 a share as Signature doubles the balance sheet

Esquire Financial Holdings reported third-quarter net income of $17.5 million, or $1.57 per diluted share, against $14.1 million, or $1.62 per diluted share, a year earlier, in the first quarter to include Signature Bank of Chicago. Adjusted net income was $23.6 million, or $2.12 per diluted share, and total assets reached $4.81 billion after the acquisition closed on August 1.

Esquire closed the Signature purchase on August 1, so the September quarter is the first to consolidate two months of the Chicago bank's activity. The accompanying investor presentation argues that the combined company's performance does not depend on cost savings, and the balance sheet shows the scale change: assets, loans and deposits each roughly doubled in a year.

Andrew C. Sagliocca, the company's chief executive, said the deal widens the franchise: “This transformational merger enhances our operating profile, expands our resources, and diversifies our balance sheet”.

Merger costs split the reported and adjusted figures

Pretax merger expenses of $8.9 million explain most of the gap between the two profit measures. Esquire's reconciliation adds those costs back, removes a $938,000 tax benefit tied to share-based compensation and applies the related tax effect, producing adjusted net income of $23.6 million, 82.3% above the $13.0 million recorded a year earlier. Adjusted diluted earnings of $2.12 compare with $1.49 for the same period of 2025, an increase of 42.3%.

Reported net income of $17.5 million was 24.4% above the year-earlier $14.1 million, yet diluted earnings per share slipped to $1.57 from $1.62 because weighted-average diluted shares rose to 11,143,493 from 8,690,130, a 28.2% increase driven by stock issued for Signature. Share issuance, in other words, ran ahead of the profit the acquired bank added on a reported basis.

A wider balance sheet and a thinner interest margin

Total assets rose 120.0% from a year earlier to $4.81 billion at September 30, 2026, and $1.90 billion of that increase came from Signature. Loans reached $3.43 billion, up 80.1% from June 30, while deposits of $3.98 billion were 82.5% above the linked quarter and 111.7% above a year earlier.

Net interest income climbed 70.6% from a year earlier to $53.5 million as average interest-earning assets grew to $3.70 billion. That growth came with a thinner spread, as the net interest margin narrowed 30 basis points from a year earlier, to 5.74%, and average loan yields fell 41 basis points, to 7.57%. The company attributed the lower loan yield to the composition of the acquired book, and said the Signature assets and liabilities, carried at fair value, added roughly 6 basis points to the margin in the quarter.

Credit quality holds as the allowance doubles

The allowance for credit losses rose to $44.7 million, or 1.30% of loans, from $21.1 million, or 1.37%, a year earlier, with the increase mainly tied to loans acquired in the merger. Nonperforming loans were $8.6 million, or 0.25% of loans, and nonperforming assets $9.6 million, or 0.20% of assets, including three acquired Signature loans totaling $3.5 million and one other-real-estate-owned property of $1.0 million. The provision for credit losses was $1.8 million, $50,000 above the year-earlier quarter.

Conversion timing and the next dated event

Esquire said core systems conversions are in progress and targeted for April 2027, with no material client attrition since closing. The Bank's common equity tier 1 ratio was 12.95% and tangible common equity to tangible assets 10.91%, with tangible book value of $40.48 a share against $32.60 a year earlier; the company put the closing accretion to tangible book value at approximately 10%. Uninsured deposits were $1.67 billion, or 42.1% of the total, excluding $24.1 million of the company's own deposits held at the Bank.

Management takes questions on a conference call scheduled for Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The release carries no revenue or earnings guidance for the fourth quarter, and the filing index for this report lists the current report, its two exhibits, graphic files and interactive data, with no quarterly report attached.