April 12 (Reuters) - Embattled lender New York Community Bancorp on Friday named Craig Gifford as chief financial officer, among other executive appointments.

Gifford, with more than three decades of banking experience, has previously worked at US Bancorp.

NYCB in January had posted a surprise fourth-quarter loss, weighed down by higher provisions tied to its exposure to the commercial real estate (CRE) portfolio.

The NYCB stock is down about 72% so far this year. (Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)