AMBZ
AMER BUSINESS BK CA
stock OTC

Hingham has a very different profile. Its core banking business isn't very profitable; it's hard to make much money with a NIM just over 2%. Its profitability is goosed by the gains from its securities portfolio. Nothing at all wrong with that, of course. But you're really counting on management's investment expertise and these continued realized investment gains, as the core banking franchise doesn't have a lot of value. AMBZ, on the other hand, is a pure spread lender. Both/either model can do well, of course, but they're quite different.

Thank you for this lead. I have an investment in HIFS, which has a profile similar to what you describe for AMBZ.

I've held American Business Bank (AMBZ) for over twenty years. I've bought more over time but now it's my largest position so I haven't been buying recently. 15% ROE on 10% tangible equity, trades at 1.4x TBV and 10x EPS. Zero net credit losses over its 30-year history. No acquisitions, all organic growth. It's outperformed the NASDAQ Bank Index by 8x over its history. I spent my entire career investing in banks and this is the best-run bank I've ever come across. Very sophisticated board. I don't expect any multiple expansion over time (it's not very liquid) so basically that ROE is your long-term return at this point. They've never done a proper stock listing and no analysts cover it. It's totally unsexy. It just cranks out performance year after year after year while no one pays much attention.

Hingham has a very different profile. Its core banking business isn't very profitable; it's hard to make much money with a NIM just over 2%. Its profitability is goosed by the gains from its securities portfolio. Nothing at all wrong with that, of course. But you're really counting on management's investment expertise and these continued realized investment gains, as the core banking franchise doesn't have a lot of value. AMBZ, on the other hand, is a pure spread lender. Both/either model can do well, of course, but they're quite different.

Thank you for this lead. I have an investment in HIFS, which has a profile similar to what you describe for AMBZ.

I've held American Business Bank (AMBZ) for over twenty years. I've bought more over time but now it's my largest position so I haven't been buying recently. 15% ROE on 10% tangible equity, trades at 1.4x TBV and 10x EPS. Zero net credit losses over its 30-year history. No acquisitions, all organic growth. It's outperformed the NASDAQ Bank Index by 8x over its history. I spent my entire career investing in banks and this is the best-run bank I've ever come across. Very sophisticated board. I don't expect any multiple expansion over time (it's not very liquid) so basically that ROE is your long-term return at this point. They've never done a proper stock listing and no analysts cover it. It's totally unsexy. It just cranks out performance year after year after year while no one pays much attention.