New York Community Bancorp Inc.
NYCB,
moved to try to reassure investors Wednesday, by saying total deposits have increased in the last several weeks and that it had “ample” liquidity. The comments come after Moody’s Investors Services cut the bank’s credit rating to a speculative grade, or “junk,” rating, citing financial, risk-management and governance challenges. The stock dropped 7.9% in premarket trading, but had been down as much as 16.7% in Tuesday’s after-hours session after Moody’s downgrade. “Despite the Moody’s ratings downgrade, our deposit ratings from Moody’s, Fitch and DBRS remain investment grade. The Moody’s downgrade is not expected to have a material impact on our contractual arrangements,” Chief Executive Thomas Cangemi said. The bank had total deposits of $83.0 billion as of Feb. 5, up from $81.4 billion as of Dec. 31. The bank also said it had total liquidity of $37.3 billion, which exceeded uninsured deposits of $22.9 billion, with a coverage ratio of 163%. Cash held on the balance sheet was $17.0 billion. The stock has tumbled 56.3% over the past three months through Tuesday, while the S&P 500
SPX,
has gained 13.2%.
