FFB Bancorp, Fresno, CA (FFBB)

Sep 30, 2024

A Ticket to Ride a Gravy Train

Those of you who’ve been following me for awhile may recall that a few years back I was on a tear analyzing America’s one branch banks, both here in the Timyan Bank Alert, and on Seeking Alpha.

Of the "12 Beautiful One Branch-and-Growing Community Banks" I reviewed in a 2018 Seeking Alpha Article, the institution that was Communities First Financial and Fresno First Bank back then — but is FFB Bancorp and FFB Bank now — has me reaching for my wallet.

I don't normally get excited about a bank stock that's trading at 190% of book value, but today, at 7x earnings, this stock — which was CFST then and FFBB now — is a screaming Buy in spite of having appreciated 450% over the past six years.

Disclosure: As of this posting, I own shares of FFBB and may subsequently either dispose of them or purchase more.

Prospective Buyers

For the most part, institutions that could afford to buy FFBB would find it too dilutive to their own book value to pursue, which is fine by me, as FFB shareholders are likely better off letting the bank's Steve Miller band continue to make their music. I suspect Coastal is the only exception for which FFB would be both a strong strategic play and accretive.

Coastal Financial, Everett, WA (CCB)

Financial Snapshot

Luminaries

Mark D. Saleh, Chairman
Steven K. Miller, President and CEO
Bhavneet Gill, Executive VP and CFO

Gold Stars

What a difference a new CEO can make!

FFB's current CEO Steve Miller came on board in 2015.

In the ten years before Miller's arrival on the scene — the bank had raised $22.5M and had earned a mere $2M total.

In the eight years since, under Miller's skilled management:

The bank has earned $125M without raising a dime of new equity capital.
FFB's assets have grown from $275M to $1.4B.
FFB has launched a highly profitable payment processing operation that in 2023 alone grew deposits to $228M and pulled in $14M new revenue from fees.
Of all publicly traded banks in the United States, FFB has grown its tangible book value per share faster than all but two.