NorthEast Community Bancorp, Inc./MD/ (NECB)

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Forward-Looking Statements

​

Statements contained in this report that are not historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements (within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended), which involve significant risks and uncertainties. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and is including this statement for purposes of invoking these safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe future plans, strategies and expectations of the Company, are generally identifiable by the use of the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “project,” “plan,” or similar expressions. The Company’s ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain and actual results may differ from those predicted. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the future.

​

The Company cautions readers of this report that a number of important factors could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those predicted and could affect the future prospects of the Company include, but are not limited to:

​

​

33

Table of Contents

Critical Accounting Policies

We consider accounting policies involving significant judgements and assumptions by management that have, or could have, a material impact on the carrying value of certain assets or on income to be critical accounting policies. We consider these accounting policies to be our crucial accounting policies. The judgements and assumptions we use are based on historical experience and other factors, which we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from these judgements and estimates under different conditions, resulting in a change that could have a material impact on the carrying values of our assets and liabilities and our results of operations. There have been no changes in the critical accounting policies since the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025.

Balance Sheet Analysis

General

Total assets increased $51.7 million, or 2.5%, to $2.1 billion at June 30, 2026, from $2.1 billion at December 31, 2025. The increase in assets was primarily due to an increase in net loans of $59.4 million, partially offset by a decrease in cash and cash equivalents of $7.8 million.

Cash and cash equivalents decreased $7.8 million, or 9.6%, to $73.4 million at June 30, 2026 from $81.2 million at December 31, 2025. The decrease in cash and cash equivalents partially funded the increase of $59.4 million in net loans.

Equity securities increased $757,000, or 2.8%, to $27.3 million at June 30, 2026 from $26.6 million at December 31, 2025. The increase in equity securities was attributable to the purchase of $1.0 million in equity securities during the six months ended June 30, 2026, partially offset by market depreciation of $243,000 due to market interest rate volatility during the six months ended June 30, 2026.

Securities held-to-maturity decreased $564,000, or 3.1%, to $17.8 million at June 30, 2026 from $18.3 million at December 31, 2025 due to pay-downs of various investment securities and an increase of $9,000 to the allowance for credit losses for held-to-maturity securities, partially offset by the purchase of $470,000 in municipal securities.

Loans, net of the allowance for credit losses, increased $59.4 million, or 3.2%, to $1.9 billion at June 30, 2026 from $1.9 billion at December 31, 2025. The increase in loans consisted of an increase of $67.2 million in construction loans, partially offset by decreases of $4.9 million in multi-family loans, $2.2 million in non-residential loans, $200,000 in mixed-use loans, $69,000 in one-to-four family loans, $23,000 in consumer loans, and $3,000 in commercial and industrial loans.

During the six months ended June 30, 2026, we originated loans totaling $653.2 million, which includes commitments and funded loans, consisting primarily of $606.7 million in construction loans, $25.1 million in commercial and industrial loans, $20.8 million in multi-family loans, and $675,000 in mixed-use loans. The $606.7 million in construction loans had $262.7 million, or 43.3%, disbursed at loan closing, with the remaining funds to be disbursed over the terms of the construction loans. These disbursements were offset by normal pay-downs and principal reductions as construction projects were completed and either condominium units were sold to end buyers or multi-family rental buildings were refinanced by other financial institutions. The commercial and industrial loans had $19.0 million, or 75.7%, disbursed at loan closing as of June 30, 2026.

Multi-family loan originations decreased by $74.6 million, or 78.2%, to $20.8 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026 from $95.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2025 due to changes related to rent and housing regulations in New York City and the uncertainty regarding interest rates.

The allowance for credit losses related to loans was $4.6 million at June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025. The allowance for credit losses related to loans had a provision for credit losses totaling $568,000 and charge-offs totaling $547,000. The provision for credit losses totaling $568,000 was due to an increase in the loan portfolio and a slight increase in the remaining terms of the loan portfolio.

34

Table of Contents

The allowance for credit losses for off-balance sheet commitments increased $284,000, or 32.3%, to $1.2 million at June 30, 2026 from $879,000 at December 31, 2025 due primarily to an increase of $204.2 million, or 30.0%, in off-balance sheet commitments from December 31, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

The allowance for credit losses for held-to-maturity securities increased $9,000, or 7.1%, to $135,000 at June 30, 2026 from $126,000 at December 31, 2025 due to an increase in our municipal bond portfolio.

Premises and equipment decreased $356,000, or 1.4%, to $25.0 million at June 30, 2026 from $25.4 million at December 31, 2025 primarily due to the amortization of fixed assets. Federal Home Loan Bank stock increased by $133,000, or 32.4%, to $543,000 at June 30, 2026 from $410,000 at December 31, 2025 primarily due to an increase in our mortgage-related assets. Bank owned life insurance (“BOLI”) increased $364,000, or 1.4%, to $26.8 million at June 30, 2026 from $26.4 million at December 31, 2025 due to increases in the BOLI cash value. Accrued interest receivable decreased $39,000, or 0.3%, to $12.2 million at June 30, 2026 from $12.2 million at December 31, 2025 due to a decrease in the yield in the loan portfolio. Property held for investment was $1.3 million at both June 30, 2026 and December 31, 2025.

Right of use assets — operating decreased $360,000, or 7.7%, to $4.3 million at June 30, 2026 from $4.7 million at December 31, 2025, primarily due to depreciation of the right of use assets.

Other assets increased $117,000, or 1.1%, to $11.1 million at June 30, 2026 from $11.0 million at December 31, 2025 due to an increase of $725,000 in suspense accounts, partially offset by decreases of $528,000 in tax assets and $90,000 in prepaid expenses.

Total deposits decreased $80.4 million, or 5.0%, to $1.5 billion at June 30, 2026 from $1.6 billion at December 31, 2025. The decrease in deposits was primarily due to decreases in certificates of deposit of $190.8 million, or 21.2%, and savings account balances of $10.6 million, or 7.5%, partially offset by increases in NOW/money market accounts of $67.5 million, or 22.3% and non-interest bearing deposits of $53.5 million, or 19.7%.

The decrease of $190.8 million in certificates of deposit consisted of decreases of $129.0 million, or 34.9%, in brokered certificates of deposit, $38.3 million, or 56.6%, in non-brokered listing services certificates of deposit, and $23.4 million, or 5.3% in retail certificates of deposit.

The decrease in brokered certif

[Excerpt truncated for page length; source filing is linked above.]

ITEM 7.MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

This discussion and analysis reflects our consolidated financial statements and other relevant statistical data, and is intended to enhance your understanding of our financial condition and results of operations. The information in this section has been derived from the audited consolidated financial statements of the Company that appear beginning on page F-1 of this report.

Executive Summary

Our results of operations depend primarily on our net interest income. Net interest income is the difference between the interest income we earn on our interest-earning assets, consisting primarily of loans, investment securities, mortgage-backed securities and other interest-earning assets (primarily cash and cash equivalents), and the interest we pay on our interest-bearing liabilities, consisting of money market accounts, statement savings accounts, individual retirement accounts and certificates of deposit. Our results of operations also are affected by our provisions for credit losses, non-interest income and non-interest expense. Non-interest income currently consists primarily of loan fees, service charges, and earnings on bank owned life insurance. Non-interest expense currently consists primarily of salaries and employee benefits, deposit insurance premiums, directors’ fees, occupancy and equipment, data processing and professional fees. Our results of operations also may be affected significantly by general and local economic and competitive conditions, changes in market interest rates, governmental policies and actions of regulatory authorities.

Business Strategy

Growing our assets with a continued focus on the origination of construction loans.

At December 31, 2025, $1.3 billion, or 71.8%, of our total loan portfolio, net of loans in process, consisted of construction loans primarily located in high demand and high absorption areas in the New York Metropolitan Area. There continues to be a significant need for construction financing within the high absorption, homogeneous

31

Table of Contents

communities served by the Bank and we intend to continue to support the growth of these communities through the financing of condominium and apartment construction loans within the communities.

Maintaining strong asset quality and managing credit risk.

Strong asset quality is a key to the long-term financial success of any financial institution. We have been successful in maintaining strong asset quality in recent years. Our ratio of non-performing assets to total assets was 0.00%, 0.25%, and 0.33%, at December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We attribute this credit quality to a conservative credit culture and an effective credit risk management environment. We have an experienced team of credit professionals, well-defined and implemented credit policies and procedures, what we believe to be conservative loan underwriting criteria, and active credit monitoring policies and procedures. Our senior management team also spends substantial time conducting construction site visits and visiting regularly with community leaders and borrowers in our high absorption communities, which enables us to understand the needs of our communities and to stay informed as to matters affecting those communities.

Continuing to grow our non-interest bearing deposit accounts through the maintenance of low customer fees and charges.

We believe that as a community bank we should maintain the fees and charges we charge our customers as low as possible. By doing so, we have been able to attract and retain supermarkets and other businesses as customers of the Bank and at the same time increase the amount of our non-interest bearing business accounts.

Expanding our franchise through de novo branching or branch acquisitions.

As the communities we serve continue to grow and expand into new areas, we believe there will be branch expansion opportunities within our market area and in the newly developing communities expanding outward from existing high absorption, homogeneous communities where our branches are currently located. We intend to continue to explore opportunities as they arise to expand our branch network.

Expanding our employee base, infrastructure and technology, as necessary, to support future growth.

We have already made significant investments in our infrastructure, technology and employee base to support the growth in our construction portfolio and the increased compliance responsibilities due to such growth, including experienced Bank Secrecy Act professionals. The additional capital raised in the 2021 second-step conversion offering provided us with additional resources to attract and retain the necessary talent and continue to enhance our infrastructure and technology to support our growth following the conversion.

Implement a stockholder-focused strategy for management of our capital.

We recognize that a strong capital position is essential to achieving our long-term objective of building stockholder value, and we believe that our capital position will support our future growth and expansion, and will give us flexibility to pursue other capital management strategies to enhance stockholder value.

Critical Accounting Policies

In the preparation of our consolidated financial statements, we have adopted various accounting policies that govern the application of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and to general practices within the banking industry. Our significant accounting policies are described in note one to the consolidated financial statements included in this report.

Certain accounting policies involve significant judgments and assumptions by us that have a material impact on the carrying value of certain assets and liabilities. We consider these accounting policies, which are discussed below, to be critical accounting policies. The judgments and assumptions we use are based on historical experience and other factors, which we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ from these judgments and estimates under different conditions, resulting in a change that could have a material impact on the carrying values of our assets and liabilities and our results of operations.

32

Table of Contents

Allowance for Credit Losses - Loans

The allowance for credit losses related to loans is a valuation reserve established and maintained by charges against income and is deducted from the amortized cost basis of loans to present the net amount expected to be collected on the loans. Loans, or portions thereof, are charged off against the ACL when they are deemed uncollectible. Expected recoveries do not exceed the aggregate of amounts previously charged-off and expected to be charged-off.

The ACL is an estimate of expected credit losses, measured over the contractual life of a loan, that considers our historical loss experience, current conditions and forecasts of future economic conditions. Determination of an appropriate ACL is inherently subjective and may have significant changes from period to period.

The methodology for determining the ACL has two main components: evaluation of expected credit losses for certain groups of homogeneous loans that share similar risk characteristics and evaluation of loans that do not share risk characteristics with other loans.

The allowance for credit losses related to loans is measured on a collective (pool) basis when similar risk characteristics exist. If the risk characteristics of a loan change, such that they are no longer similar to other loans in the pool, the Company will evaluate the loan with a different pool of loans that share similar risk characteristics. If the loan does not share risk characteristics with other loans, the Company will evaluate the loan on an individual basis. The Company evaluates the pooling methodology at least annually. Loans are charged off against the allowance for credit losses related to loans when the Company believes the balances to be uncollectible. Expected recoveries do not exceed the aggregate of amounts previously charged off or expected to be charged off.

The Company has chosen to segment its portfolio consistent with the manner in which it manages credit risk. Such segments include residential real estate, non-residential real estate, construction, commercial and industrial business, and consumer. For most segments, the Company calculates estimated credit losses using a probability of default and loss given default methodology, the results of which are applied to each individual loan within the segment. The point in time probability of default and loss given default are then conditioned by macroeconomic scenarios to incorporate reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount.

The Company estimates the allowance for credit losses related to loans via a quantitative analysis which considers relevant available information from internal and external sources related to past events and current conditions, as well as the incorporation of reasonable and supportable forecasts. The Company evaluates a variety of factors including third party economic forecasts, industry trends and other available published economic information in arriving at its forecasts. Expected credit losses are estimated over the contractual term of the loans, adjusted for expected prepayments when appropriate. The contractual term excludes expected extensions, renewals, and modifications unless either of the following applies: management has a reasonable expectation at the reporting date that a troubled debt restructuring will be executed with an individual borrower or the renewal option is included in the original or modified contract at the reporting date and are not unconditionally cancelable by the Company.

Also included in the allowance for credit losses related to loans are qualitative reserves to cover losses that are expected but, in the Company’s assessment, might not be adequately represented in the quantitative analysis or the forecasts described above. Factors that the Company considers include changes in lending policies and procedures, business conditions, the nature and size of the portfolio, portfolio concentrations, the volume and severity of past due loans and non-accrual loans, the effect of external factors such as competition, legal and regulatory requirements, among others. Qualitative loss factors are applied to each portfolio segment with the amounts judgmentally determined by the relative risk to the most severe loss periods identified in the historical loan charge-offs of the Company.

The Company has elected to exclude accrued interest receivable from the measurement of its ACL. When a loan is placed on non-accrual status, any outstanding accrued interest is reversed against interest income.

On a case-by-case basis, the Company may conclude that a loan should be evaluated on an individual basis based on the loan’s disparate risk characteristics. When the Company determines that a loan no longer shares similar risk characteristics with other loans in the portfolio, the allowance will be determined on an individual basis using the present value of expected cash flows or, the loan’s observable market price or, for collateral-dependent loans, the fair

33

Table of Contents

value of the collateral as of the reporting date, less estimated selling costs, as applicable. If the fair value of the collateral is less than the amortized cost basis of the loan, the Company will charge off the difference between the fair value of the collateral, less costs to sell at the reporting date and the amortized cost basis of the loan.

Balance Sheet Analysis

General

Total assets increased $53.9 million, or 2.7%, to $2.1 billion at December 31, 2025, from $2.0 billion at December 31, 2024. The increase in assets was primarily du

[Excerpt truncated for page length; the complete text is on the linked full-MD&A page.]