PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif., July 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Malaga Financial Corporation "Company" (OTCIQ:MLGF), the parent company of Malaga Bank FSB, today reported that net income for the six months ended June 30, 2026, was $11,758,000 ($1.19 basic and fully diluted earnings per share) compared to $10,950,000 ($1.11 basic and fully diluted earnings per share, as adjusted for the stock dividend declared on November 14, 2025) for the same period ended June 30, 2025. For the first six months of 2026, the Company's annualized return on average equity was 10.37% and the annualized return on average assets was 1.63%. Book value per share stood at $23.21 as of June 30, 2026.
The $808,000 increase in net income was primarily due to a $1,205,000 increase in net interest income after provision for loan losses, a $307,000 identity fraud recovery, a $84,000 decrease in nonoperating expenses, partially offset by a $451,000 increase in other operating expenses and $339,000 increase in income tax expense.
Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, was $5,695,000 ($0.58 basic and fully diluted earnings per share), representing a 3% increase of $149,000 from net income of $5,546,000 ($0.56 basic and fully diluted earnings per share, as adjusted for the stock dividend declared on November 14, 2025) reported in the second quarter of 2025.
The $149,000 second-quarter earnings increase over the prior year was driven primarily by a $496,000 increase in net interest income after provision for loan losses, a $68,000 decrease in nonoperating expenses offset by a $339,000 increase in other operating expenses and a $64,000 increase in income tax expenses.
Net interest income totaled $11,587,000 in the second quarter of 2026, up $571,000 from the same period in 2025, driven primarily by a $63.9 million increase in average interest-earning assets. The interest rate spread held steady at 2.97% for the second quarter of both 2025 and 2026. The yield on average interest-earning assets rose by 0.06%, matching a 0.06% increase in the rate paid on average interest-bearing liabilities over the same period.
The $68,000 reduction in second-quarter nonoperating expenses was primarily due to a $17,000 check fraud recovery, compared to a $51,000 check fraud expense during the second quarter of 2025.
Operating expenses for the second quarter of 2026 increased 10% to $3,762,000, up from $3,423,000 in the second quarter of 2025. This increase is primarily attributed to a $212,000 increase in compensation, an $85,000 increase in data processing related to new fraud detection automation, and a $17,000 increase in facilities maintenance and repairs.