MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at a regional player like MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS), are you seeing a small-cap bank or a highly efficient financial engine primed for growth? This community bank, which reported a Q3 2025 net income of $17.3 million and a remarkable annualized Return on Average Equity (ROE) of 15.69%, is defintely punching above its weight in a challenging market. The company's focus on core community banking, primarily generating interest income from its $3.20 billion in total loans as of Q3 2025, sets a high bar for operational discipline, plus its pending merger with First IC Corporation will reshape its footprint. Stick around to see how this consistent performance, backed by a 45.5% net profit margin, maps to your investment thesis.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) History

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) has rapidly grown from a regional Korean-American bank into a multi-state financial institution, with its most significant leap being the expected $206 million merger with First IC Corporation in late 2025. This move positions the company to command nearly $4.8 billion in assets, fundamentally changing its market profile.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company was established in 2006 as Metro City Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the current holding company, MetroCity Bankshares, Inc..

Original location

The bank is headquartered in Doraville, Georgia, a key location in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Founding team members

Key figures in the company's early and ongoing leadership include Nack Y. Paek, who serves as Chairman and CEO, and Farid Tan, who has served as CEO since 2006 and is currently the President and a Director. Honestly, their long tenure provides a lot of stability.

Initial capital/funding

Precise initial capital figures are not publicly disclosed in standard filings, but the bank was founded as a Georgia state-chartered commercial bank in 2006. What this estimate hides is the initial community investment that fueled its early growth.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory is defined by two major capital events that moved it from a strong regional player to a significant multi-state institution. The 2019 IPO was the first big step.

Going public on October 3, 2019, provided the necessary liquidity and valuation to support a more aggressive growth strategy across seven states, including New York, Texas, and Virginia. This decision allowed them to use their stock as currency for future acquisitions, which is exactly what happened next.

The most recent and defintely most transformative decision is the strategic combination with First IC Corporation, announced in March 2025 and expected to close by December 1, 2025. Here's the quick math on the impact:

• The pro forma company's total assets will jump from MetroCity Bankshares' $3.66 billion (as of Q1 2025) to approximately $4.8 billion.
• The merger is expected to deliver approximately 26% earnings per share (EPS) accretion to MetroCity Bankshares shareholders in the first full year, which is a massive value driver.
• The total transaction value was approximately $206 million, based on the stock price in March 2025, showing a clear commitment to scale.

This merger isn't just about size; it's about competitive positioning and the ability to invest more in technology and growth, which you can read more about in their Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS).

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) Ownership Structure

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) is a publicly traded bank holding company, meaning its ownership is distributed among a mix of institutional, insider, and retail investors. This structure ensures public accountability through Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, but it also means a significant portion of the company is controlled by the executive team and board members.

Given Company's Current Status

MetroCity Bankshares is a public company whose common stock trades on The Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MCBS. As of November 2025, the company's market capitalization is approximately $665.8 million, reflecting its status as a regional commercial banking institution. The company is in a period of strategic expansion, with its merger with First IC Corporation expected to close on December 1, 2025, a move that will significantly increase its operating scale. At the end of the third quarter of 2025, specifically September 30, 2025, MetroCity had total assets of $3.6 billion.

You can review the strategic direction and corporate philosophy here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS).

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

The company's ownership is split nearly evenly between insiders and institutions, leaving about half of the shares in the hands of the general public. This high level of insider ownership-nearly one-quarter-means the executive team's financial interests are defintely aligned with shareholder returns.

Given Company's Leadership

The leadership team at MetroCity Bankshares is seasoned, boasting an average management tenure of 8.5 years, which provides stability and deep institutional knowledge. The organization is steered by its founder, Nack Paek, who has been in his current role for over a decade.

Key members of the executive and board leadership as of November 2025 include:

• Nack Paek: Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He founded the bank in 2006.
• Farid Tan: President and Director. His total compensation for the 2025 fiscal year was $2.27 million.
• Lucas Stewart: Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He is the primary contact for investor relations.
• Howard Kim: Executive Vice President, with a 2025 compensation of $1.97 million.
• Sion Lai: Secretary and Director.

The board of directors is also highly experienced, with an average tenure of 11.8 years. This long-standing leadership team is crucial for navigating the integration challenges of the upcoming First IC Corporation merger.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) Mission and Values

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) centers its purpose on being a dedicated, long-term financial resource for its communities, driven by a core value of attentive service and relationship building. This focus on community banking has helped the company grow its market capitalization to approximately $707 million as of late 2025.

MetroCity Bankshares' Core Purpose

You're not just looking at a balance sheet; you want to know what the company stands for, and honestly, MetroCity Bankshares' strength is rooted in its community-first approach. They defintely prioritize relationships over transactional banking, which is a key differentiator in the regional space. The bank's dedication to service is its cultural DNA.

Here's the quick math on their scale: the planned acquisition of First IC Corporation, expected to close in Q4 2025, will boost the pro forma company's total assets to around $4.8 billion, solidifying its position as a major regional player.

Official Mission Statement

The company's mission, articulated through the actions of its subsidiary Metro City Bank, is fundamentally about strengthening local communities and providing essential banking solutions. It's a clear focus on the customer as a long-term partner.

• Dedicate to service and be a lifelong financial resource for customers.
• Strengthen and expand roots in local communities.
• Provide valuable banking solutions to individuals, families, and business owners.
• Build long-term banking relationships, viewing customers as friends and business partners.

Vision Statement

The vision is an expansion of its founding principle: to be a substantial, reliable financial partner for diverse, growing communities, particularly those underserved. The goal is to achieve scale without losing the personal touch of a community bank.

• Grow substantially to support small to medium-sized businesses and individuals.
• Maintain a strong foundation in serving multi-ethnic communities across its seven-state footprint.
• Provide a healthy, safe, and efficient workplace for its talented and courteous employees.

You can see the full details of this commitment here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS).

MetroCity Bankshares slogan/tagline

While an official, widely-advertised slogan isn't prominently featured in their public filings, the company's core message is clear: they are a relationship-driven bank. This is a common theme in community banking, but they execute it with the scale of a larger institution, reporting a trailing 12-month revenue of $146 million as of September 30, 2025.

• Focus on long-term banking relationships.
• Emphasize being attentive and focused on unique customer needs.
• Commit to full compliance with laws and the highest standards of integrity.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) How It Works

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. operates as the holding company for Metro City Bank, generating revenue primarily by taking deposits and lending those funds out, a classic community banking model. The company specializes in serving multi-ethnic communities across seven US states, providing a full suite of commercial and consumer financial services.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc.'s Product/Service Portfolio

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc.'s Operational Framework

The operational process is straightforward: attract low-cost deposits, mainly from their core community base, and deploy that capital into higher-yielding loans, predominantly in commercial real estate and business lending. This spread between interest earned and interest paid is the net interest margin (NIM), which stood strong at 3.68% in Q3 2025.

Here's the quick math on value creation:

• Deposit Gathering: Use a network of 20 full-service branches across states like Georgia, New York, and Texas to gather stable, local deposits.
• Loan Origination: Underwrite commercial and consumer loans, with total loans reaching $3.20 billion as of Q3 2025.
• Efficiency Focus: Maintain a lean cost structure, evidenced by the Q3 2025 efficiency ratio of 38.7%, which is low and signals strong cost control.
• Strategic Expansion: The pending merger with First IC Corporation, expected to close by late 2025, will immediately boost the pro forma company's total assets to approximately $4.8 billion, giving them more scale.

To be fair, managing the integration of a merger of that size is a near-term risk, but the expected ~26% EPS accretion is a clear opportunity. For a deeper dive into the bank's fiscal health, see: Breaking Down MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc.'s Strategic Advantages

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc.'s market success stems from a few durable advantages that differentiate it from larger, national banks. Their focus is precise, and their execution is disciplined.

• Niche Market Expertise: Deep-seated expertise in serving multi-ethnic communities, which often translates to higher customer loyalty and a stable, lower-cost deposit base.
• Superior Profitability: Consistently generate high returns, with an annualized Return on Average Assets (ROAA) of 1.89% in Q3 2025 and a forecasted Return on Equity (ROE) of 16% for the full 2025 fiscal year.
• Accretive Scale: The acquisition of First IC Corporation adds approximately $1.2 billion in assets, creating a combined entity with the scale to compete more effectively and invest more heavily in technology.
• Asset Quality: Maintained strong asset quality, with nonperforming assets totaling only 0.51% of total assets as of March 31, 2025.

You should now assess the post-merger integration plan for First IC Corporation. Investor: Review the Q4 2025 guidance for integration costs and the updated EPS accretion timeline.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) How It Makes Money

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc., the holding company for Metro City Bank, primarily makes money like any successful community bank: by borrowing funds cheaply (deposits) and lending them out at a higher rate (loans), a process known as generating net interest income. It supplements this core business with fees from services like mortgage originations and Small Business Administration (SBA) loan sales.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc.'s Revenue Breakdown

For the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025), MetroCity Bankshares generated approximately $38.0 million in total revenue, with the vast majority coming from the spread between interest earned and interest paid. Here's the quick math on the breakdown:

Net Interest Income (NII) for Q3 2025 was $31.8 million, a solid increase from the $30.3 million reported in Q3 2024, showing year-over-year growth despite a slight quarter-over-quarter decrease due to rising deposit costs. Noninterest income, which totaled $6.2 million in Q3 2025, saw a quarter-over-quarter increase of $445,000, largely driven by higher fees from mortgage loan originations and servicing income from SBA loans.

Business Economics

The core of MetroCity Bankshares' business is the Net Interest Margin (NIM), which is the difference between the interest income generated by earning assets (like loans) and the interest paid on liabilities (like deposits). For Q3 2025, the NIM stood at 3.68%. That's a strong margin in the current rate environment, but it did decrease slightly from the prior quarter, which is a near-term risk to watch as deposit competition heats up.

Their key economic driver is their specialized lending focus, particularly in commercial real estate and SBA loans. They are defintely not a pure-play mortgage lender, but their noninterest income stream is heavily influenced by the volume of loans they originate and sell, especially SBA loans, which totaled $13.4 million in sales during Q3 2025.

The biggest near-term opportunity is the pending merger with First IC Corporation, expected to close later in Q4 2025. This deal is a classic scale play, aiming to create a combined bank with approximately $4.8 billion in total assets, which should drive better operating efficiencies and expand their geographic footprint across the U.S. Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

• Core Product: Commercial Real Estate and SBA loans.
• Pricing Strategy: Loan rates are set to maintain a healthy Net Interest Margin (3.68% in Q3 2025) while remaining competitive in their target markets.
• Key Risk: Rising cost of deposits is pressuring the NIM.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc.'s Financial Performance

When I look at a bank's financials, I immediately check three things: asset quality, profitability, and efficiency. MetroCity Bankshares shows impressive profitability metrics, which is why it stands out in the community bank space. You can dive deeper into these figures by reading Breaking Down MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, the company reported net income of $50.4 million, up 4.4% year-over-year, which shows a steady, profitable growth trajectory. Their Return on Average Assets (ROA) is a great indicator of how well management is using the bank's assets to generate profit. At 1.89% in Q3 2025, this is a strong number for the banking sector, showing efficient asset utilization.

The efficiency ratio is another crucial metric, measuring noninterest expense as a percentage of total revenue; lower is better. MetroCity Bankshares' efficiency ratio for Q3 2025 was 38.7%. This is still a very respectable figure, but it has risen from 37.0% in Q3 2024, suggesting that operational costs are increasing faster than revenue, likely due to merger-related expenses and general inflationary pressures.

• Return on Average Assets (ROA): 1.89% in Q3 2025, indicating strong profitability.
• Return on Average Equity (ROE): 15.69% in Q3 2025, reflecting excellent shareholder value generation.
• Efficiency Ratio: 38.7% in Q3 2025, showing effective cost management, though slightly up from the prior year.
• Total Loans: Grew by $71.6 million in Q3 2025, reaching $3.20 billion, signaling continued strong demand for their lending products.

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) Market Position & Future Outlook

MetroCity Bankshares is on the cusp of a significant transformation in late 2025, moving from a niche regional player to a more formidable mid-sized bank with a post-merger asset base of approximately $4.8 billion. The company's focus on high-growth, multi-ethnic communities and its superior profitability metrics-like the recent annual net profit margin of 45.5%-position it for continued outperformance, but the successful integration of its major acquisition is the immediate, critical factor.

Competitive Landscape

In the specialized regional banking space, MetroCity Bankshares competes not just on size, but on its deep penetration into multi-ethnic markets and expertise in Small Business Administration (SBA) lending. The pending merger with First IC Corporation will immediately increase its total assets by over 33% from the current $3.6 billion, fundamentally altering its competitive standing against larger, more geographically diverse peers. Here's the quick math on how it stacks up against comparable-sized regional banks:

To be fair, the Market Share percentage above is a proxy based on relative asset size within the peer group of regional banks under $10 billion in assets, not a precise FDIC deposit share in a single MSA. Still, it clearly shows the size gap MetroCity Bankshares is closing with its merger strategy.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's near-term trajectory is defined by its ability to capitalize on its M&A strategy while navigating a tricky macroeconomic environment. The biggest opportunity is the merger itself, but that also introduces the largest near-term risk. You can get a deeper dive into who is betting on this trajectory at Exploring MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (MCBS) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Industry Position

MetroCity Bankshares occupies a strong, specialized position in the US regional banking sector. Its core strength lies in its exceptional operational efficiency and profitability, not just its asset size.

• The Q3 2025 efficiency ratio of 38.7% is a defintely strong indicator of cost control, especially when compared to the industry average, which is often above 55%.
• The company's annualized return on average equity (ROAE) was 16% as of May 2025, demonstrating effective use of shareholder capital to generate profit.
• Post-merger, the combined entity's assets of approximately $4.8 billion will move it into a higher tier of community banks, offering greater scale to compete for larger commercial loans and invest in technology.
• The focus on SBA loans and multi-ethnic communities provides a defensible niche, insulating it somewhat from the intense competition for general commercial and retail banking customers.

This niche focus, coupled with a strategic, accretive acquisition, suggests a clear, actionable path for continued value creation, even as broader market conditions remain uncertain.