Earnings Call Insights: Columbia Banking System (COLB) Q1 2026 Management View “Our first quarter results reflected continued execution against the same core priorities we have previously outlined, delivering consistent, repeatable results, optimizing our balance sheet and returning excess capital to shareholders.” (President, CEO & Chairman of the Board Clint Stein) “We also completed the Pac Pre...
Earnings Call Insights: Columbia Banking System (COLB) Q1 2026 Management View “Our first quarter results reflected continued execution against the same core priorities we have previously outlined, delivering consistent, repeatable results, optimizing our balance sheet and returning excess capital to shareholders.” (President, CEO & Chairman of the Board Clint Stein) “We also completed the Pac Premier systems conversion and consolidated 9 branches during the quarter, putting us on track for full realization of all acquisition-related cost savings by the end of this quarter.” (President, CEO & Chairman of the Board Stein) “Given our current capital position and strong forward outlook, we increased our pace of buybacks during the first quarter, returning $200 million to our shareholders.” (President, CEO & Chairman of the Board Stein) “We reported earnings per share of $0.66 and operating earnings per share of $0.72 for the first quarter.” (CFO & Executive Vice President Ivan Seda) “Net interest margin was 3.96% for the first quarter, right at the top end of the range that I outlined in our last call.” (CFO & Executive Vice President Seda) “New loan origination volume of $1.2 billion was up 38% from the year ago quarter.” (Senior EVP & Co-President of Columbia Bank Torran Nixon) Outlook “Following the modest earning asset contraction during the first quarter, we expect the balance sheet size to remain relatively stable with commercial loan growth offset by contraction in the transactional portfolio.” (CFO & Executive Vice President Seda) “We continue to expect noninterest revenues in the low to mid-$80 million range for Q2.” (CFO & Executive Vice President Seda) “Excluding CDI amortization, we expect noninterest expense in the $335 million to $345 million range for the second quarter before declining in the third quarter as we realize all cost savings related to the transaction by June 30.” (CFO & Executive Vice President Seda) “I think we will be roughly at that 4% m...
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik condemned US Republicans’ claim that South Korea was discriminating against e-commerce giant Coupang, calling it “interference in domestic affairs”. His remarks followed a letter sent by 54 US lawmakers in the Republican Study Committee to South Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha, in which they claimed Seoul was taking discriminatory and un...
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik condemned US Republicans’ claim that South Korea was discriminating against e-commerce giant Coupang, calling it “interference in domestic affairs”. His remarks followed a letter sent by 54 US lawmakers in the Republican Study Committee to South Korean Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha, in which they claimed Seoul was taking discriminatory and unfair actions against the US-based company that is under police investigation and government scrutiny...
Just_Super/iStock via Getty Images Welcome to the April 2026 edition of the lithium miner news. The past month saw lithium prices significantly higher. Lithium price news Metal.com reported an Australian spodumene concentrate 6% Li₂O CIF China spot price of USD 2,485 as of April 23, 2026, significantly higher than the past month. The China lithium carbonate spot price was significantly higher last...
Just_Super/iStock via Getty Images Welcome to the April 2026 edition of the lithium miner news. The past month saw lithium prices significantly higher. Lithium price news Metal.com reported an Australian spodumene concentrate 6% Li₂O CIF China spot price of USD 2,485 as of April 23, 2026, significantly higher than the past month. The China lithium carbonate spot price was significantly higher last month, now at CNY 173,000 . China lithium carbonate spot price 5-year chart - CNY 173,000 (~USD 25,342) ( source) Trading Economics Lithium demand versus supply outlook Katusa Research is forecasting a small lithium deficit to begin in 2026 (as of January 2026) ( source ) Carbon Credits courtesy Katusa Research RMIS forecasts lithium deficits to start after 2028, and may grow very large without major new investments (as of May 2025) ( source ) Carbon Credits Albemarle is forecasting lithium deficits more likely from ~2027/28 (as of mid-2025) ( source ) Albemarle GGII, a Shenzhen-based consultancy, forecasts a balanced lithium market this year, a 10,000t LCE deficit in 2026, and a 60,000t deficit in 2027 (as of mid 2025) Volt Rush courtesy GGII Trend Investing vs. IEA demand forecast for EV metals (Trend Investing) ( IEA ) Trend Investing & the IEA Lithium market and battery news On March 23, Mining Visuals reported : Lithium market balance: Visualizing the shift from surplus to deficit by 2026... Prepare for the 2026 shortfall: Acknowledge the consensus among major financial institutions that lithium will enter a structural deficit by 2026, with estimates projecting a shortage of up to 80,000 tonnes. Several analysts are forecasting a lithium deficit in 2026 ( source ) Mining Visuals On March 25, Car News China reported : CATL’s domestic EV battery share reaches 50.1% in Q1 2026...China’s total EV battery manufacturing volume reached 310 GWh in the first two months of 2026, up 22% year-over-year...BYD reached a share of 17.5% in the first quarter of 2026, down 4.3% year-ov...
European private equity firm Waterland has raised €4 billion ($4.7 billion) for its new flagship fund, signaling an uptick in demand for European mid-market funds. Waterland Private Equity Fund X saw strong participation from a variety of investors including asset managers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. The firm has a...
European private equity firm Waterland has raised €4 billion ($4.7 billion) for its new flagship fund, signaling an uptick in demand for European mid-market funds. Waterland Private Equity Fund X saw strong participation from a variety of investors including asset managers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and family offices, according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. The firm has also raised €600 million for its Waterland Partnership Fund II, which makes minority investments in some of Waterland portfolio companies. Both funds were oversubscribed and closed at their hard caps less than four months after launch. “2025 was a record year for us in delivering cash proceeds to our limited parters,” Cedric Van Cauwenberghe , Waterland’s group managing partner, said in an interview. “Investors like to see consistency in returns pattern. Waterland has been in the global top 15 out of several hundred GPs in the HEC Dow Jones Private Equity Performance Ranking for the last 15 years.” He declined to provide the figures for distributed to paid-in capital — a measure of how much cash is generated by a fund relative to what’s been invested. On average, Waterland exits 10 investments each year, according to Van Cauwenberghe. The firm sold cloud services provider Skaylink GmbH to Vodafone Group Plc for €175 million in December. It also divested a majority stake in debt collection firm Coeo to doValue in July. The net internal rate of return for Waterland Private Equity Fund IX , the predecessor vehicle of Fund X, was more than 25%, according to the firm. Repeat investors in Waterland’s funds include Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and the Texas County & District Retirement System.