Troubled regional lender New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) lost $327 million in the first quarter, but its stock soared in premarket trading as a new CEO outlined a "clear path to profitability over the following two years."

The net loss was due in part to an increase in provisions set aside for future loan losses. They increased to $315 million, compared with $170 million in the same year-ago period.

They were, however, down from $552 million in the fourth quarter.

NYCB is a big lender to office buildings and rent-regulated apartment complexes, especially in New York City.

Its stock has fallen more than 70% since the beginning of 2024, but it was up more than 15% in premarket trading Wednesday as new CEO Joseph Otting pledged that NYCB would achieve "significantly higher profitability and higher capital levels" by 2026.

"While this year will be a transitional year for the company, we have a clear path to profitability over the following two years," he said in a release.

Otting, the former acting Comptroller of the Currency, leads a new team put in place this spring following a $1 billion infusion from a group that includes former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

The infusion and executive reshuffling were attempts to restore stability to a regional lender that began wobbling on Jan. 31 when it surprised analysts by slashing its dividend and setting aside more for loan losses.

The turmoil intensified after it disclosed weaknesses in its internal controls, and a tenfold increase in its fourth quarter loss to $2.7 billion.

Its struggles intensified new fears that mounting commercial real estate weaknesses could ripple through other banks and came roughly one year after the fall of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, seizures in March of 2023 that triggered widespread panic among depositors.

NYCB served as a rescuer last year, acquiring $38.4 billion of Signature Bank’s assets from US regulators.

But that pushed its own assets above $100 billion, a key threshold that meant heightened scrutiny and tighter standards from regulators.

Its deposits dropped by nearly $7 billion during the first quarter, the company disclosed Wednesday, going from $81.5 billion to $74.8 billion. Its deposits had been $83 billion on Feb. 5.

This spring its bank began offering a 5.55% annual yielding CD account, one of the highest in the country.

NYCB made it clear there were other challenges still in front of it, including more loan loss provisions and challenges among its borrowers.

After all, it wrote off $81 million in bad loans during the first quarter.

In a presentation, the bank estimated that earnings per share on a diluted basis will be -$0.50 to -$0.55 in 2024 due in part to setting aside as much as $800 million for future loan losses.

"We anticipate an elevated level of loan loss provision over the remainder of 2024 related to the potential for market and rate conditions to impact borrower performance on certain portions of our loan portfolio," Otting said in the release.

David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance.

Click here for in-depth analysis of the latest stock market news and events moving stock prices.

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance