(Reuters) -New York Community Bancorp ( NYCB ) said on Thursday it was working to integrate Signature Bank, the collapsed lender it had bought last year from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC), into its overall financial reporting process.

It also estimated an increase in the special assessment fees charged by the FDIC to cover a hole in the deposit insurance fund that was drained in the regional banking turmoil of March 2023, but said it was not expected to be material.

NYCB also disclosed it had completed a sale of consumer loans with a net book value of $899 million.

Shares of the bank were up about 2% in early trading.

The lender delayed its annual report as it revised its quarterly loss 10 times higher than earlier due to a goodwill impairment charge and also warned of "material weakness" in internal controls.

The disclosures on Feb. 29 followed a surprise quarterly loss and a 70% reduction of its dividend in January, which rekindled fears over the banking sector's exposure to the under-stress commercial real estate business.

The lender has since stepped up efforts to win back investor confidence including naming Joseph Otting, former Comptroller of the Currency in the Trump administration, as CEO and concluding a $1 billion capital injection from a group of investors including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The bank has also said it was getting interest from non-bank bidders for some of its loans and will outline a new business plan in April as it slashed its dividend again and disclosed deposits fell 7%.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)