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Employee Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2025
Postemployment Benefits [Abstract]  
Employee Benefit Plans Employee Benefit Plans
The Company has a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan, the Central Bancompany, Inc. Retirement Plan (the Plan), available to qualified employees, as defined under the Plan. On November 14, 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an amendment to freeze the Plan, effective December 31, 2018. After December 31, 2018, participants in the Plan stopped accruing additional benefits for future service or compensation. Participants retained benefits accumulated as of December 31, 2018, in accordance with the terms of the Plan.
As part of its ongoing strategy to manage pension obligations, the Company purchased two separate group annuity contracts during the year ended December 31, 2024, to settle a portion of its defined benefit pension liability. On August 28, 2024, the Company purchased a group annuity contract from Pacific Life Insurance Company to settle pension liabilities related to approximately 1,104 retirees and beneficiaries. The annuity covered benefits totaling $81.8 million, reducing the Company’s pension obligation by an equivalent amount. On December 5, 2024, the Company purchased an additional group annuity contract from Pacific Life Insurance Company to settle further pension obligations. This annuity covered the benefits of approximately 43 retirees and beneficiaries, with a corresponding reduction in the pension liability of $16.9 million. As of the date of the annuity purchases, the Company has no further obligation for the settled benefits, as the responsibility for payment of benefits now rests with the annuity provider.
In addition to the annuity purchase placements, the Company offered eligible terminated, vested pension plan participants as well as eligible active employee pension plan participants who have reached the age of 59.5 years old, an option to elect a one-time voluntary lump sum window distribution equal to the present value of the participant’s pension benefit, in settlement of all future pension benefits to which they would otherwise have been entitled. Payments were distributed to participants who accepted the lump sum offer in December 2024 from the assets of the Pension Plan. The Company paid out benefits, via lump sum distribution, of approximately 248 terminated vested and eligible active participants resulting in a reduction in the pension liability of $21.6 million.
The annuity purchases and lump sum distributions were made to reduce the Company's exposure to future pension funding volatility. The settlement related to the annuity purchases and lump sum distributions resulted in a total decrease in the Company’s pension liability by $120.3 million. The Company recognized a gain on settlement of $2.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. The gain was actuarially determined based on the acceleration of the recognition of the accumulated unrecognized actuarial gain associated with the Pension Plan. The settlement was recorded under the provisions of ASC 715-30, Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans, and is included in the Company's pension income for the period.
The remaining pension liability after the settlement was $114.9 million, and the Company continues to manage the pension plan's remaining obligations in accordance with its funding policy.
The Company’s funding policy is to contribute funds to an account maintained by the pension plan trustee, as necessary, to provide for the normal cost and amortization of the unfunded actuarial accrued liability. To the extent that these costs are fully covered by assets in the trust, a contribution might not be made in a particular year.
Assets held in the Plan are primarily government and government agency obligations, common stock, corporate bonds, mutual funds, and money market accounts. Certain executives also participate in a supplemental pension plan (the SERP) that the Company funds only as retirement benefits are disbursed. The SERP carries no segregated assets.
Benefit obligations of the SERP are shown in the table immediately below. In all other tables presented, the pension plan and the SERP are presented on a combined basis, even though the SERP is unfunded.
December 31,
20252024
(dollars in thousands)
Projected benefit obligation$14,159 $15,216 
Cumulative contributions in excess of net periodic benefit cost17,289 17,862 
The following items are components of net pension cost for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024:
December 31,
20252024
(dollars in thousands)
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation$6,328 $11,623 
Expected return on plan assets(6,366)(10,431)
Amortization of net (gain)(108)(55)
Settlement gain recognized- (2,736)
Net periodic pension cost$(146)$(1,599)
The following table sets forth the pension plans’ funded status, using valuation dates of December 31, 2025 and 2024:
December 31,
20252024
(dollars in thousands)
Change in projected benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation at prior valuation date$114,900 $248,480 
Interest cost6,328 11,623 
Plan settlements- (120,303)
Benefits paid(6,607)(14,273)
Actuarial (gain)(1,954)(10,627)
Projected benefit obligation at valuation date112,667 114,900 
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year148,948 255,854 
Actual return on plan assets22,341 26,307 
Employer contributions1,265 1,363 
Plan settlements- (120,303)
Benefits paid(6,607)(14,273)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year165,947 148,948 
Funded status and net amount recognized$53,280 $34,048 
Amounts recognized on the December 31, 2025 and 2024 consolidated balance sheets are as follows:
December 31,
20252024
(dollars in thousands)
Prepaid pension asset$45,312 $44,473 
Accrued benefit/(liability)7,968 (10,425)
Net amount recognized$53,280 $34,048 
Amounts not yet reflected in net periodic benefit cost and included in accumulated other comprehensive loss, on a pretax basis, at December 31, 2025 are as follows:
December 31, 2025
(dollars in thousands)
Accumulated other comprehensive income, pretax$25,255 
Cumulative employer contributions in excess of net periodic benefit cost28,025 
Net amount recognized$53,280 
The following weighted average assumptions have been used at December 31, 2025 and 2024:
December 31,
20252024
Determination of benefit obligation at year-end:
Discount rate5.80%5.70%
Determination of net periodic benefit cost for the year ended:
Discount rate5.70%5.50%
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets4.50%4.50%
The expected return on pension plan assets is developed using inflation expectations and risk factors to arrive at a long-term nominal expected return for each asset class. The nominal expected return for each asset class is then weighted based on the target asset allocation to develop the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets.
The following table shows the Company’s employer contributions and benefits paid for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024:
December 31,
20252024
(dollars in thousands)
Employer contributions$1,265 1,363 
Benefits paid6,607 14,273 
The weighted average asset allocations as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, by asset category, are as follows:
Plan assets as of December 31,
20252024
Equity securities- %50 %
Fixed income60 %49 %
Cash and equivalents40 %1 %
Total100 %100 %
The Plan’s Investment Policy focuses on efficient allocation of capital among various asset classes to create a diversified portfolio in order to achieve the Plan’s investment return objective of 4.5%. In making capital allocation decisions, the Trustee considers the expected return, standard deviation, and correlation of returns of various asset classes, as well as the current term structure of interest rates and current market conditions. In order to generate sufficient returns to meet actuarial estimates of the Plan’s future obligations, the majority of the Plan’s assets are typically invested in asset classes with higher expected rates of return, specifically equity securities. In order to limit risk, a lesser allocation is made to fixed income securities. Within strict policy ranges, the Trustee has discretion to increase or decrease the equity and fixed income allocations in response to changing market conditions. The Plan allocates a small percentage to real assets in the form of precious metals trusts.
The following benefit payments are expected to be paid (in thousands):
2026$6,531 
20276,765 
20286,988 
20297,177 
20307,376 
2031 - 203539,387 
Following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for assets measured at fair value in the Plan:
Cash equivalents – Money market funds are valued at the closing price reported on the active market on which the funds are traded.
U.S. government and agency obligations – Federal agencies are priced utilizing industry-standard models that consider various assumptions, including time value, yield curves, volatility factors, prepayment speeds, default rates, loss severity, current market, and contractual prices for the underlying financial instruments, as well as other relevant economic measures. Substantially all these assumptions are observable in the marketplace, can be derived from observable data, or are supported by observable levels at which transactions are executed in the marketplace.
Corporate bonds - Corporate securities are valued using a type of matrix, or grid, pricing in which securities are benchmarked against the treasury rate based on credit rating. These model and matrix measurements are classified as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.
Mutual funds and common stocks – The fair value of these investments is based on quoted market prices from national securities exchanges.
The following table sets forth by level, within the fair value hierarchy, the pension plan’s assets at fair value as of December 31, 2025:
Fair value measurements at December 31, 2025 using
Total fair valueQuoted prices
in active
markets for
identical
assets
(Level 1)		Significant
other
unobservable
inputs
(Level 2)		Significant
unobservable
inputs
(Level 3)
(dollars in thousands)
Cash equivalents$66,574 $66,574 $- $- 
U.S. government and agency obligations10,199 - 10,199 - 
Common stocks- - - - 
Corporate bonds35,092 - 35,092 - 
Mutual funds - fixed income53,487 53,487 - - 
Mutual funds - equities596 596 - - 
Total$165,947 $120,657 $45,291 $- 
The following table sets forth by level, within the fair value hierarchy, the pension plan’s assets at fair value as of December 31, 2024:
Fair value measurements at December 31, 2024 using
Total fair valueQuoted prices
in active
markets for
identical
assets
(Level 1)		Significant
other
unobservable
inputs
(Level 2)		Significant
unobservable
inputs
(Level 3)
(dollars in thousands)
Cash equivalents$1,940 $1,940 $- $- 
U.S. government and agency obligations16,250 - 16,250 - 
Common stocks40,542 40,542 - - 
Corporate bonds18,385 - 18,385 - 
Mutual funds - fixed income36,958 36,958 - - 
Mutual funds - equities34,873 34,873 - - 
Total$148,948 $114,313 $34,635 $- 
The Company has established a Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association Trust (VEBA) to fund the employee benefit plan covering medical and dental benefits. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, the Company contributed $17.8 million and $16.4 million, respectively, to the VEBA.
The Company has established an employee savings plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). Under this plan, employees are allowed to contribute a maximum of 75% of their base pay, subject to certain IRS limitations. The Company’s matching contribution is equal to one-half of the employee’s contribution up to a maximum of 6% of the employee’s base pay. For the years ended December 31, 2025, and 2024 the Company contributed $3.9 million for both periods, to the 401(k) plan.
In 2019, with the freezing of the defined benefit pension plan effective December 31, 2018, the Company added to the defined contribution plan two additional benefits. Effective January 1, 2019, a Non-Elective Contribution (NEC) of 4% was given to all employees, except employees drawing a pension. Effective December 1, 2024, the plan was amended to allow any participant electing to commence pension benefits as a result of the special election window from October 3, 2024 to November 15, 2024, to continue to be eligible for the NEC contribution. NEC eligibility has an immediate entry date for employees aged 18 or older. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 the Company contributed $8.7 million and $8.2 million, respectively, to the 401(k) plan related to this benefit.
The Company maintains deferred compensation plans. The liability for the plans, aggregating $33.9 million and $35.7 million at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, is recorded in other liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets. Total expenses under these arrangements, included in salaries and employee benefits, were $4.3 million and $3.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively.