11:20 AM EST, 03/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PU ) deposits dropped by roughly 7% in the month through March 5, falling to $77.2 billion, the company disclosed on Thursday in another sign of customer worries over the lender's commercial real estate exposure.

Commercial real estate loans represented about 12% of New York Community Bancorp's ( NYCB/PU ) $84.6 billion in total loans at the end of 2023, the bank said in a presentation on Thursday. Those loans took in a broad variety of property types, it said, including retail, industrial, hotels, self-storage and student housing.

New York Community's share price began falling Jan. 31 after it disclosed the declining value of its commercial real estate loan portfolio as part of its Q4 financial results, including a pair of properties that lost about $185 million in value. Moody's Investors Service cut its credit rating for the bank a week later, citing "governance challenges" and the heightened risk of losses from its commercial real estate loans, triggering another slide for its stock.

New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PU ) said last week it found "material weakness" in how it reviews loan risks. The company on Wednesday announced a $1.05 billion investment from a group led by Liberty Strategic Capital, Hudson Bay Capital and Reverence Capital intended to shore up its flagging balance sheet, and also brought in former US Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting as its new chief executive.

The bank on Thursday also said it was cutting its quarterly dividend by 80% to $0.01 per share to retain more cash for operations.

New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB/PU ) shares were about 7% higher in mid-morning trading on Thursday

Price: 3.60, Change: +0.14, Percent Change: +4.05