Executive Summary

Q1 2025 EPS was $0.09, meeting S&P Global consensus; “Revenue” (S&P definition) beat by ~$5.9M, while company-reported total income was $58.80M, reflecting stronger NIM and lower funding costs following a Q4’24 balance sheet repositioning . EPS/Revenue estimates and actuals from S&P Global are shown below (values marked with * are from S&P Global).
Net interest margin inflected to 2.11% (QoQ +23 bps; YoY +36 bps) as asset yields rose and liability costs fell; net interest income increased 19% YoY to $50.33M .
Asset quality was stable-to-mixed: NPLs rose to 0.31% of loans (driven by a single $5.9M construction credit), but net charge-offs fell to $0.86M vs $5.0M in the prior-year quarter .
Deposits grew $98.8M QoQ and liquidity remained strong with ~$2.8B immediate funding capacity; efficiency ratio improved materially to 74.6% from 205.2% in Q4’24 as non-interest expense declined .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well
- Net interest margin expansion to 2.11% on higher asset yields and lower borrowing costs; Q4’24 repositioning and late-2024 rate declines contributed to lower funding costs .
- Operating leverage improved: Non-interest expense fell $1.8M YoY (lower professional fees and FDIC premiums), driving the efficiency ratio to 74.6% (vs 91.96% YoY; 205.17% in Q4) .
- CEO tone constructive: “increase earnings, expand our net interest margin and reduce overall funding costs mainly due to a balance sheet repositioning strategy implemented in the fourth quarter of 2024... solid loan growth and an increase in deposits while reducing our overall operating costs” .
What Went Wrong
- NPLs ticked up to 0.31% of loans (from 0.28% at 12/31/24), including a $5.9M construction credit; non-performing CRE loan count rose (4→7) QoQ .
- Deposit mix still rate-sensitive: CDs at 4.08% and interest-bearing demand at 2.08% highlight ongoing price competition despite sequential declines in cost of funds .
- Tax expense increased to $3.1M (effective rate 25.9%) vs a benefit in the prior-year period, muting bottom-line upside despite better pre-tax performance .

Financial Results

Metric	Q1 2024	Q4 2024	Q1 2025
Total income (“Revenue” proxy) ($USD Millions)	$49.652	$22.711	$58.796
Net interest income ($USD Millions)	$42.200	$46.427	$50.325
Non-interest income ($USD Millions)	$7.452	$(23.716)	$8.471
Provision for credit losses ($USD Millions)	$5.278	$2.876	$2.933
Net income ($USD Millions)	$(1.155)	$(21.223)	$8.900
Diluted EPS ($)	$(0.01)	$(0.21)	$0.09
Net interest margin (%)	1.75	1.88	2.11
Efficiency ratio (%)	91.96	205.17	74.57

Vs. S&P Global Estimates (Q1 2025)

Metric	Consensus*	Actual* / Reported
EPS ($)	0.09*	0.09*
Revenue (S&P Global) ($USD Millions)	49.951*	55.863*
Total income (company-reported) ($USD Millions)	—	58.796

Values marked with * are from S&P Global.

Segment/Lending & Deposit Mix

Loans by category ($USD Thousands)

Category	Dec 31, 2024	Mar 31, 2025
One-to-four family	2,710,937	2,676,566
Multifamily	1,460,641	1,567,862
Commercial real estate	2,339,883	2,429,429
Construction	473,573	437,081
Commercial business	622,000	614,049
Home equity & advances	259,009	253,439
Total gross loans	7,869,447	7,980,973

Deposits and weighted average rates ($USD Thousands, rate %)

Deposit Type	Dec 31, 2024 Balance	Dec 31, 2024 Rate	Mar 31, 2025 Balance	Mar 31, 2025 Rate
Non-interest-bearing demand	1,438,030	—	1,490,243	—
Interest-bearing demand	2,021,312	2.19	1,935,384	2.08
Money market	1,241,691	2.82	1,333,668	2.84
Savings & club	652,501	0.75	651,713	0.70
Certificates of deposit	2,742,615	4.24	2,783,927	4.08
Total deposits	8,096,149	2.47	8,194,935	2.40

Key KPIs

KPI	Q1 2024	Q4 2024	Q1 2025
ROA (%)	(0.04)	(0.79)	0.34
ROE (%)	(0.45)	(7.86)	3.31
Interest rate spread (%)	1.12	1.23	1.48
Net charge-offs / avg loans (%)	0.26	0.07	0.04
NPLs / gross loans (%)	0.30	0.28	0.31
NPAs / assets (%)	0.22	0.22	0.25
ACL / gross loans (%)	0.71	0.76	0.78

Liquidity and Capital (point-in-time)

Immediate funding access ~$2.8B; unpledged collateral ~$2.2B (Mar 31, 2025) .
CET1 (Company) 13.21%; Tier 1 risk-based 13.30%; Total capital 14.12%; Tier 1 leverage 10.29% (Mar 31, 2025, est.) .

Guidance Changes

No formal quantitative guidance was provided in the Q1 2025 materials (no revenue, margin, expense, or tax guidance ranges disclosed) - -.

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
—	—	—	—	No formal guidance disclosed - -

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Note: We did not find a Q1 2025 earnings call transcript for CLBK in our document system; themes compiled from company releases.

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q3 2024, Q4 2024)	Current Period (Q1 2025)	Trend
Balance sheet repositioning & NIM	Q4’24 executed $352.3M AFS sales and $170M FHLB prepay; near-term losses to improve NIM going forward	NIM up to 2.11% as yields rose and borrowing costs fell; repositioning cited as a driver	Improving NIM trajectory
Funding costs & deposit competition	Persistent deposit repricing pressures through 2024; easing late-Q4 -	Average cost of interest-bearing liabilities down 17 bps YoY; deposit rates edging lower	Moderating cost pressure
Asset quality	Q3’24 NPLs rose (healthcare-related loans); Q4’24 NPLs 0.28% -	NPLs 0.31% incl. $5.9M construction loan; net charge-offs much lower YoY	Mixed: low losses, isolated NPL upticks
Expense discipline	Workforce and FDIC special assessment dynamics in 2023–24; Q4’24 core efficiency 73.68%	Lower professional fees, FDIC premiums; efficiency 74.57%	Sustained cost control
Liquidity & funding access	Strong access to contingent liquidity (~$2.6–$2.7B)	~$2.8B immediate access, with ~$2.2B unpledged collateral	Strengthening liquidity

Management Commentary

CEO Thomas J. Kemly: “increase earnings, expand our net interest margin and reduce overall funding costs mainly due to a balance sheet repositioning strategy implemented in the fourth quarter of 2024… solid loan growth and an increase in deposits while reducing our overall operating costs” .
On NIM/earnings drivers: higher average yields on loans/securities and lower average borrowing costs; easing market rates in late 2024 reduced borrowing expense .

Q&A Highlights

We did not find a Q1 2025 earnings call transcript for Columbia Financial, Inc. (CLBK) in our document system or via our transcript listings; therefore, there are no Q&A highlights to report for this quarter (we searched but found none) [ListDocuments 0 transcripts; 2025-04-01 to 2025-06-30].

Estimates Context

EPS met S&P Global consensus: $0.09 vs $0.09*.
Revenue (S&P definition) beat: $55.86M vs $49.95M*, while company-reported total income was $58.80M; differences likely reflect definition/classification variances between SPGI “Revenue” and company “total income” .
Values marked with * are from S&P Global.

Where estimates may need to adjust:

Ongoing NIM expansion and lower borrowing costs could lift forward net interest income assumptions; however, persistently high CD rates and deposit mix may limit the pace of improvement .
Asset quality outlook largely stable, but isolated CRE/construction credits warrant conservative loss assumptions; current ACL/gross loans at 0.78% .

Key Takeaways for Investors

NIM inflection is the principal catalyst; balance sheet repositioning and easing borrowing costs are flowing through to earnings .
Expense discipline is tangible (lower professional fees/FDIC), driving a sustainable step-down in efficiency ratio vs 2024 exit rates .
Asset quality is manageable with low net charge-offs; monitoring needed on select construction/CRE exposures as NPLs ticked up .
Deposit growth and slightly lower deposit costs (QoQ and YoY) suggest improving funding dynamics, though CDs remain elevated at ~4% .
Strong contingent liquidity (~$2.8B) and solid capital levels position CLBK to fund growth and manage rate/credit cycles .
Near-term estimate revisions likely skew modestly upward on net interest income and efficiency, with risk checks around credit and deposit betas .

References

Q1 2025 press release and financials -
Q1 2025 8-K furnishing the press release -
Q4 2024 press release and financials -
Q3 2024 press release and financials -

Columbia Financial, Inc. (CLBK)·Q1 2025 Earnings Summary