Amerant Bancorp will add equipment financing business line

Coral Gables, Fla.-based Amerant Bancorp Inc. will add equipment financing to its business lines as the bank looks to continue delivering robust loan growth.

Management said the company has entered into a letter of intent with a "top-notch white label provider" to offer the equipment financing.

"We believe it's essential for us to have equipment finance in the commercial bank as a complementary offering to the working capital and asset-based lending we currently provide," President and CEO Jerry Plush said on an earnings call. The company plans to appoint representatives to generate direct business in the Houston, Tampa and South Florida markets, starting in the second quarter.

The bank reported linked-quarter loan growth of 1.62% in the 2021 fourth quarter despite significant headwinds of $337 million in prepayments and $49 million of loan sales as the company winds down its New York City loan production office.

"The pipeline has just continued to build, and we're executing on our fair share of what's in the pipeline," Plush said. "So if we keep going down that path, I think we're in a good place for, I'll call it, something in the single digits growth over the course of the year."