Kavanaugh leaving First Foundation well-positioned for turnaround, Raymond James says

Huntington Bancshares

22/11/2024 14:44

** Regional lender First Foundation  FFWM.N  announces
retirement of CEO Scott Kavanaugh after ~15 years at the helm
    ** Former Huntington Bancshares  HBAN.O  executive Thomas
Shafer set to succeed Kavanaugh
    ** Raymond James says, with the recent capital raise and a
plan in place for balance sheet optimization, Kavanaugh leaves
the bank well-positioned for Shafer to continue with the
turnaround
    ** FFWM, which has a huge portfolio of multi-family real
estate loans, had disclosed a $228 million "unexpected" capital
raise in July 
    ** Brokerage says Kavanaugh is leaving the bank in capable
hands, given Shafer's experience running larger banks and
executing on deals 
    ** Raymond James says it is excited to see the trajectory of
the bank under Shafer, whom it expects to continue executing on
the plan in place

 (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)
 ((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))