Republic Bancorp's third-quarter profit rises 4% from a year earlier to $31.1 million

Republic Bancorp reported third-quarter 2026 net income of $31.1 million, or $1.59 a diluted Class A share, up 4% and 5% from $29.7 million and $1.52 in the third quarter of 2025, as Core Banking net interest income rose 8% to $66.1 million on a wider margin.

The report, furnished with a Form 8-K on the morning of October 23, 2026, covers the three months ended September 30, 2026 and sets the quarter against the same period of 2025, so the comparisons below are year over year. Return on average assets was 1.74% and return on average equity 10.48% for the quarter.

The year to date is weaker than the quarter. Through September 30, net income was $1.99 million below the same period of 2025, and diluted earnings per Class A share eased to $5.44 from $5.55.

Core Banking margin widens as deposit costs fall

Core Banking, which combines the Traditional Banking and Warehouse Lending segments, earned $22.8 million, up $3.0 million or 15% from $19.8 million a year earlier. Net interest income rose $4.8 million, or 8%, to $66.1 million from $61.2 million, and the segment's net interest margin reached 4.03%, 25 basis points wider, helped by a 35 basis point reduction in funding costs.

Logan Pichel, president and chief executive officer of Republic Bank & Trust Company, said in the release: “Despite operating in a lower-rate environment for most of the past year, our Core Banking segment increased its third quarter 2026 net interest income by $4.8 million, or 8%, over the third quarter of 2025, while expanding its net interest margin 25 basis points to 4.03%.”

Deposit pricing did most of that work. The cost of Core Banking interest-bearing deposits fell to 1.99% from 2.32%, a 33 basis point decline, while average balances grew $127 million, or 3%. Average Federal Home Loan Bank advances dropped $235 million, or 63%, from a year earlier, and their weighted-average cost fell 49 basis points to 3.84% after the March 2026 prepayment of $220 million of advances that carried a 4.57% rate.

Loan growth was steady rather than rapid: Traditional Banking average loans rose 3% to $4.70 billion from $4.57 billion, a $125 million increase the release credits mainly to commercial lending demand and to cash flows from lower-yielding loans being reinvested at higher yields. Fee and expense lines moved in different directions. Noninterest income rose 4% from a year earlier to $10.9 million on a $935,000, or 26%, increase in service charges on deposits, mortgage banking income fell $842,000, or 41%, and noninterest expense declined $1.2 million, or 3%, to $45.9 million.

The processing businesses carried the offset

Republic Processing Group, which holds the tax refund, payment solutions and credit solutions businesses, earned $8.3 million against $9.9 million a year earlier. Republic Credit Solutions produced $6.2 million, down $1.1 million or 15% from $7.2 million, as provisioning on the LOC II product and higher marketing costs more than absorbed revenue growth from loan originations.

The two halves reconcile to the group total. Core Banking's $22.8 million and processing's $8.3 million sum to the $31.1 million of consolidated net income, which means the quarter's 4% improvement over the third quarter of 2025 came entirely from the core bank, where net income added $3.0 million while processing profit fell.

Provisioning returns to a charge

Core Banking's provision swung to a net charge of $2.0 million from a net credit of $479,000 a year earlier. Traditional Banking recorded a $2.2 million charge, which the release ties to a $38 million increase in period-end loans and to construction and land development lending, up $43 million. Warehouse Lending recorded a $192,000 credit after outstanding balances fell $77 million, or 13%, from a year earlier. The allowance rose 12 basis points as a share of total loans from September 30, 2025.

The swing changes the comparison more than the level. A year-earlier credit lowered that quarter's costs, and the current charge is small against a $31.1 million quarterly profit, but it marks the end of a reserve release that had been helping reported earnings.

A $7.08 billion balance sheet and the next document

Republic closed September 30, 2026 with approximately $7.08 billion in total assets and 47 banking centers in five metropolitan areas across five states. The Republic Payment Solutions program, launched late in the second quarter, produced about $180 million of lower-cost average deposits in the quarter, which the company says improved its loan-to-deposit ratio and added fee income.

Pichel's commentary argues that a higher-rate environment will add to Core Banking net interest income over the near term, an outlook the release offers without a numeric forecast. There is no fourth-quarter guidance and no conference-call time in the document. The next filing that will carry hard numbers is the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, which adds the full financial statements and the loan and deposit detail this release summarizes.