United Community in S.C. shedding securities after Navitas sale

United Community Banks in Greenville, S.C., is using gains from selling its equipment finance business to purge its securities portfolio.

The $28.2 billion-asset company said during a call with analysts that it is selling $2.6 billion of low-yielding securities at a roughly $300 million pretax loss. Proceeds are being redeployed into higher-yielding, shorter-duration securities.

The restructuring lands in the same quarter as the $1.9 billion cash sale of United’s Navitas equipment-finance platform, which closed at a 7% premium and produced a $68 million pretax gain. The sale also facilitated a $38 million reserve release.