Latest news with #PreferredBank
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Preferred Bank announces new $125M stock repurchase plan
Preferred Bank (PFBC) reported that the shareholders have approved a new $125M stock repurchase plan. Also, on May 8, the bank completed its prior stock repurchase plan. This was the final portion of the bank's $150M repurchase authorized by shareholders in 2023. The final tranche of repurchase activity saw the Bank repurchase 818,059 shares for total consideration of $65.7M over the first and second quarters of 2025. For the entire $150M repurchase, the bank repurchased 2,146,252 shares at an average price of $70.13 per share. For the new $125M repurchase, the bank will be required to gain regulatory approval due to the bank's corporate structure of having no holding company. It is expected that these approvals should be obtained in relatively short order. Easily unpack a company's performance with TipRanks' new KPI Data for smart investment decisions Receive undervalued, market resilient stocks right to your inbox with TipRanks' Smart Value Newsletter Published first on TheFly – the ultimate source for real-time, market-moving breaking financial news. Try Now>> See the top stocks recommended by analysts >> Read More on PFBC: Disclaimer & DisclosureReport an Issue Preferred Bank announces Nick Pi as chief risk officer Preferred Bank price target lowered to $96 from $108 at Piper Sandler Preferred Bank Faces Challenges Amid Earnings Call Insights Preferred Bank price target lowered to $90 from $95 at DA Davidson Preferred Bank Reports Q1 2025 Financial Results
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Highlighting Three Top Dividend Stocks
As the United States stock market shows signs of recovery from recent sell-offs, investors are closely watching the fluctuations in bond yields and legislative developments that could impact fiscal policy. In this environment, dividend stocks can offer a measure of stability and income potential, making them attractive to those seeking consistent returns amid market volatility. Name Dividend Yield Dividend Rating Columbia Banking System (NasdaqGS:COLB) 6.08% ★★★★★★ First Interstate BancSystem (NasdaqGS:FIBK) 7.11% ★★★★★★ Dillard's (NYSE:DDS) 6.43% ★★★★★★ Ennis (NYSE:EBF) 5.29% ★★★★★★ Chevron (NYSE:CVX) 5.05% ★★★★★★ Credicorp (NYSE:BAP) 5.42% ★★★★★☆ Valley National Bancorp (NasdaqGS:VLY) 5.10% ★★★★★☆ Southside Bancshares (NYSE:SBSI) 5.02% ★★★★★☆ Huntington Bancshares (NasdaqGS:HBAN) 4.05% ★★★★★☆ Carter's (NYSE:CRI) 9.96% ★★★★★☆ Click here to see the full list of 148 stocks from our Top US Dividend Stocks screener. Let's uncover some gems from our specialized screener. Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: ★★★★☆☆ Overview: Cathay General Bancorp is the holding company for Cathay Bank, providing a range of commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, with a market capitalization of approximately $3.12 billion. Operations: Cathay General Bancorp generates revenue primarily through its banking segment, which accounts for $691.28 million. Dividend Yield: 3.1% Cathay General Bancorp recently declared a cash dividend of US$0.34 per share, continuing its trend of stable and growing dividends over the past decade. The company's low payout ratio of 25.7% indicates that dividends are well-covered by earnings, though there's insufficient data to project long-term sustainability. Despite trading at a significant discount to estimated fair value, its 3.11% yield is below the top quartile in the U.S., suggesting room for growth but not leading among high-yield options. Get an in-depth perspective on Cathay General Bancorp's performance by reading our dividend report here. Our valuation report unveils the possibility Cathay General Bancorp's shares may be trading at a discount. Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: ★★★★☆☆ Overview: Preferred Bank offers a range of banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses, entrepreneurs, real estate developers, professionals, and high net worth individuals with a market cap of approximately $1.12 billion. Operations: Preferred Bank generates its revenue from its commercial banking segment, amounting to $265.95 million. Dividend Yield: 3.6% Preferred Bank declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.75 per share, maintaining stable and reliable dividends over the past decade. The low payout ratio of 30.3% suggests dividends are well-covered by earnings, though future sustainability remains uncertain due to declining earnings forecasts and insufficient data on long-term coverage. Trading at a significant discount to estimated fair value, its 3.6% yield is attractive but below top-tier U.S. dividend payers, with recent insider selling noted as a potential concern. Navigate through the intricacies of Preferred Bank with our comprehensive dividend report here. The analysis detailed in our Preferred Bank valuation report hints at an deflated share price compared to its estimated value. Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: ★★★★☆☆ Overview: National Bank Holdings Corporation is a bank holding company for NBH Bank, offering a range of banking products and financial services to commercial, business, and consumer clients in the United States, with a market cap of approximately $1.44 billion. Operations: National Bank Holdings Corporation generates its revenue primarily from its banking segment, which accounts for $389.88 million. Dividend Yield: 3.3% National Bank Holdings offers a stable dividend, recently increased by 3.4% to US$0.30 per share, with a reliable growth history over the past decade. Its low payout ratio of 39.9% indicates dividends are well-covered by earnings, though future sustainability is uncertain due to insufficient long-term coverage data. Despite trading at a significant discount to estimated fair value, its 3.25% yield is below top-tier U.S. dividend payers, and recent earnings showed decreased net income year-over-year. Unlock comprehensive insights into our analysis of National Bank Holdings stock in this dividend report. Our valuation report here indicates National Bank Holdings may be overvalued. Unlock our comprehensive list of 148 Top US Dividend Stocks by clicking here. Have you diversified into these companies? Leverage the power of Simply Wall St's portfolio to keep a close eye on market movements affecting your investments. Streamline your investment strategy with Simply Wall St's app for free and benefit from extensive research on stocks across all corners of the world. Explore high-performing small cap companies that haven't yet garnered significant analyst attention. Fuel your portfolio with companies showing strong growth potential, backed by optimistic outlooks both from analysts and management. Find companies with promising cash flow potential yet trading below their fair value. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include NasdaqGS:CATY NasdaqGS:PFBC and NYSE:NBHC. This article was originally published by Simply Wall St. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Preferred Bank (PFBC) The Best Small Cap Bank Stock To Invest In Now?
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) stands against other best small cap bank stocks to invest in now. The global banking market was valued at $35.4 billion in 2024, according to Market Research Future. It's expected to grow from $37.17 billion in 2025 to $55.25 billion by 2034 at a CAGR of 4.55%. McKinsey and Company's Global Banking Annual Review for 2024 stated that the global banking industry has consistently displayed low price-to-book multiples, ranking at the bottom of all sectors. This raises a lot of questions regarding the industry's long-term value creation. However, in the past 2 years, the sector has seen healthy profitability, capital, and liquidity since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. Because these gains are attributed to the surging interest rates, there are several questions about their sustainability. However, without these gains, the Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE) for many regions would fall below the cost of capital. The banking market should focus on structural changes and operational efficiency to counteract these concerns. Analyzing high-performing banks shows that they often result from specific segment selection and strategic scaling within the value chain and geographically. Barclays senior equity analyst Jason Goldberg joined CNBC's 'Squawk Box' on March 20 to discuss the state of the banking sector. Goldberg talked about the recent volatility in bank stocks, which initially increased after the presidential election but was followed by a drop. He thinks that bank valuations are currently lower than their historical averages, considering that the price-to-book ratios are about half a point lower than usual. Goldberg explained that the reason for the initial surge in this sector remains intact when asked about whether the fundamental environment for banks shifted since their peak during the recent rally. This is because of market enthusiasm for a pro-growth agenda and expectations of reduced regulation. He acknowledged the presence of near-term uncertainties about taxes, immigration, and tariffs. But he's positive that these issues will be resolved shortly and followed by increased corporate borrowing, investment, M&A, and IPO activity. Overall, Goldberg is of the idea that the potential for loan growth, increased merger activity, and reduced regulations will all contribute to an optimistic banking sector. We sifted through the Finviz stock screener to compile a list of all the bank stocks that were trading between $300 million and $2 billion. We then selected the 10 stocks that were the most popular among elite hedge funds and that analysts were bullish on. The stocks are ranked in ascending order of the number of hedge funds that have stakes in them, as of Q4 2024. The hedge fund data was sourced from Insider Monkey's database which tracks the moves of over 900 elite money managers. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). A bank teller assisted by an automated teller machine, emphasizing the combination of traditional banking and modern digital technology. Market Capitalization as of March 28: $1.12 billion Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 24 Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) offers commercial banking products and services to small and mid-sized businesses and their owners, as well as other high-net-worth individuals. It provides real estate mortgage loans, real estate construction loans, commercial loans, and term loans among others. The company also offers trade finance, cash management, and internet, mobile, & tablet banking services. The company's commercial real estate (CRE) lending portfolio is a resilient and growth-driving segment, particularly within the Asian community markets. CRE drove the overall loan growth for 2024 to equal 7% year-over-year. The company's strategy to mitigate risks here is to ensure that the loans are fully sponsored and backed by strong guarantors. Its underwriting also emphasizes guarantor strength and prioritizes cash flow and asset value. The mortgage loan segment in the CRE portfolio usually remains unaffected by regional challenges, such as the recent LA wildfires. This stability also comes from strong underwriting together with strong borrowers. In its loan portfolio, the company reduced non-performing loans by 50% and criticized loans by 33% in Q4 2024. Overall, PFBC ranks 8th on our list of best small cap bank stocks to invest in now. While we acknowledge the growth potential of PFBC, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold great promise for delivering high returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than PFBC but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Preferred Bank (PFBC) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong Financial Performance Amidst ...
Net Income (Annual): $131 million or $9.64 per share. Net Income (Q4): $30.3 million or $2.25 per share. Return on Assets: 19.1%. Return on Investment of Equity: 18.8%. Loan Growth (Annual): 7%. Deposit Growth (Annual): 3.6%. Non-Performing Loans: Reduced from $20 million to $10 million, a 50% improvement. Dividend Increase: From $0.70 to $0.75, payable in January. Share Repurchase: 464,000 shares for $34 million. Leverage Capital Ratio: Improved from 10.85% to 11.3%. Tangible Book Value: Increased from $50.54 to $57.86. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with HLI. Release Date: January 28, 2025 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) reported a net income of $131 million for the year, with a return on assets of 19.1% and return on equity of 18.8%, outperforming industry averages. The bank achieved a 50% reduction in non-performing loans, decreasing from $20 million to $10 million, and a 33% reduction in criticized loans. Preferred Bank (NASDAQ:PFBC) increased its dividend from $0.70 to $0.75, reflecting confidence in its financial stability. The bank repurchased 464,000 shares of its common stock for $34 million, indicating a strong capital position and commitment to shareholder value. The leverage capital ratio improved from 10.85% to 11.3%, and the tangible book value per share increased from $50.54 to $57.86, showcasing financial strength and growth. The bank's net income for the fourth quarter was negatively impacted by a $8.1 million correction to rental expenses, equating to a $0.42 after-tax adjustment. Loan growth was moderate at 7% and deposit growth at 3.6%, reflecting a slow growth year for the banking industry. The Los Angeles wildfire posed a risk to the bank's commercial real estate loan portfolio, although initial assessments showed minimal impact. The bank faces competitive pressure in deposit rates, particularly within the local Asian community, affecting its flexibility in pricing. Non-interest expenses are expected to rise in the first quarter due to increased payroll taxes, legal fees, and charitable contributions related to wildfire relief efforts. Q: Can you provide insights on the margin outlook for the first quarter, considering the mix of floating rate loans? A: Li Yu, Chairman and CEO, stated that the margin is expected to remain relatively stable in the first quarter, with no major effects anticipated. Edward Czajka, CFO, added that the spot margin for December was 3.98%, with a quarterly NIM of 4.06%, and they do not foresee significant further compression. Q: What is the status of time deposits repricing in the first quarter, and what are the new offered rates? A: Edward Czajka, CFO, mentioned that about $1.6 billion in time deposits are coming due in Q1 at a weighted average rate of 4.75%. The offered rates are currently below that, ranging from the low 3s to the mid 4s, depending on the term and competition. Q: What are your plans for capital repatriation in 2025, particularly regarding share buybacks? A: Li Yu, Chairman and CEO, explained that buybacks will depend on factors such as loan growth prospects, stock pricing, and capital ratios. If the stock remains undervalued, they may consider buybacks. Q: Can you provide details on the expected non-interest expenses for the first quarter? A: Edward Czajka, CFO, indicated that non-interest expenses are expected to be around $23 million for Q1, including elevated payroll taxes and professional services costs. They also plan to make a charitable contribution to local wildfire relief funds. Q: What is the outlook for criticized loans and charge-offs in the first quarter? A: Nick Pi, Chief Credit Officer, stated that charge-offs were due to delays in resolving impaired loans, but they expect criticized loans to decrease in Q1 as some loans are paid off or refinanced, and additional collateral is provided for others. Q: How is the competitive landscape affecting loan growth and payoff activity? A: Li Yu, Chairman and CEO, noted that payoff activity was elevated in the fourth quarter due to sales transactions. The origination remained consistent, but the market is cautious, with many investors waiting for more favorable conditions. Q: Are there any changes in liquidity strategy, particularly regarding the securities portfolio? A: Edward Czajka, CFO, mentioned that they have been purchasing 10-year treasuries, totaling about $60 million, to take advantage of current market conditions. However, this is a cautious approach, and they will reassess as needed. Q: What is the current strategy for managing the allowance ratio? A: Nick Pi, Chief Credit Officer, explained that the allowance ratio is expected to gradually reduce, aligning with peer banks. The bank maintains a philosophy of fully reserving for loan losses, which has kept their ratio slightly higher than peers. For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Q4 2024 Preferred Bank Earnings Call
Jeffrey Haas; Director; Financial Profiles, Inc. Li Yu; Chairman, Chief Executive Officer; Preferred Bank Edward Czajka; Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer; Preferred Bank Nick Pi; Executive Vice President, Chief Credit Officer; Preferred Bank Wellington Chen; President, Chief Operating Officer; Preferred Bank Andrew Terrell; Analyst; Stephens, Inc. Matthew Clark; Analyst; Piper Sandler Gary Tenner; Analyst; D.A. Davidson & Company Timothy Coffey; Analyst; Janney Montgomery Scott LLC David Feaster; Analyst; Raymond James Operator Good day and welcome to the Preferred Bank fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call. All participants will be on listen-only mode. (Operator Instructions) After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.I would now like to turn the conference over to Jeff Haas of Financial Profiles. Please go ahead. Jeffrey Haas Thank you, Michael. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Preferred Bank's financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024. With me today from management are Chairman and CEO, Li Yu; President and Chief Operating Officer, Wellington Chen; Chief Financial Officer, Edward Czajka; Chief Credit Officer, Nick Pi; and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Johnny Hsu. Management will provide a brief summary of the results. And then, we will open up the call to your the course of this conference call, statements made by management may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based upon specific assumptions that may or may not prove correct. Forward-looking statements are also subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors relating to Preferred Bank's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Preferred Bank. For a detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the SEC-required documents that the bank files with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC. If any of these uncertainties materialize or any of these assumptions prove incorrect, Preferred Bank's results could differ materially from its expectations as set forth in these statements. Preferred Bank assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Li Yu. Please go ahead. Li Yu Thank you very much. Tomorrow, January 29, is the first day of New Year on the lunar calendar which I personally observed. And I'd like to use this opportunity to wish every one of you a most happy and most healthy New with Preferred Bank. We close out the year with a net income of $131 million or $9.64. Return on assets was 19.1%. Return on investment of equity was 18.8%. Both number compares very well with the peer group and industry average. For the fourth quarter, our net income was $30.3 million or $2.25 a share. This number was negatively impacted by a correction to the rental expenses accumulated over five years in the total amount of $8.1 million. This non-recurring expense adjustment equals to roughly $0.42 on the after-tax year 2024 is a slow growth year for the banking industry. We too are not an exception. Our loan growth for the year of 7% and deposit growth of 3.6% was moderate compared to previous year, but probably very much in line with the industry average. Looking forward at present, we don't see the activity as significant increases the quarter, we have made good progresses in the credit front. Non-performing loans has reduced from $20 million to $10 million, a 50% improvement. And criticized loans reduced 33% during the first quarter. We hope the new year, we see further progress in this unfortunate event of Los Angeles wild fire has brought very significant damage to our community. Early survey indicated that maybe one commercial real estate loan property may be significantly damaged. Gratefully, our mortgage loan portfolio seems to be unaffected. And also personally, I'm so pleased to see that none of our employees' homes suffered any significant damage. We, at Preferred Bank, will be dedicating our best effort to help rebuild our communities, our businesses, and December, our Board has announced the increase in dividends from $0.70 to $0.75 payable in January. This year, meaning 2024, we also repurchased 464,000 shares of our common stock for total consideration of $34 million. The leverage capital ratio has actually improved from 10.85% in the beginning of the year to 11.3% at the end of the year. And tangible book value on common stock also improved from $50.54 to $57.86. All of us at Preferred Bank is looking forward to continue our consistent performances in the year of you very much. Now, we are ready for your questions. Operator We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)Andrew Terrell, Stephens. Andrew Terrell Hey. Food morning. Li Yu Good morning, Andrew. Andrew Terrell I wanted to check in just on the margin here to start off with. I mean, considering the heavier mix of floating rate loans, you guys obviously did a really impressive job in the fourth quarter, the marginally down 4 basis points or so. I just wanted to maybe get your thoughts on whether there was any kind of carry-forward into 1Q that could maybe influence it a bit more negatively or just kind of your thoughts or early reads on the margin as we head here into the first quarter. Li Yu I would add on to my comments, my personal feeling, it would not have a major effect in first quarter. We're also not looking to that the Fed would change the rates in the first quarter. So the margin, the change of the sensitivity has been a growing effort for about one, one-and-a-half years. So it seems to be showing results in the first quarter. And I think first quarter will be relatively stable, for my personal estimate, maybe slightly affected, not much, relatively stable. Ed, do you have anything to add? Edward Czajka Yeah. Andrew, just to give you the spot, because I know I'll get that question sometime on the call today, the spot margin for December was 3.98%, with a quarterly NIM of 4.06%. You can see the pattern there. But to Mr. Yu's comment, not seeing a lot of further compression from where we're at. So I still think we're in the very, very high 3s going into Q1. Andrew Terrell Got it. Okay. Yeah, I was going to save the spot question for Matt if he's on here. But do you have the amount of the time deposits repricing in the first quarter, and then the rate they're coming up at and what the kind of new offered rate is? Edward Czajka We have about just under $1.6 million coming due in Q1 at a -- excuse me. Billion. Did I say million? Billion, excuse me. At a weighted average rate of 4.75%. So we'll look for that to continue to come down on the TCD side in terms of funding costs. Andrew Terrell And then maybe the range of offered. Edward Czajka Yeah, offered rates now are below that. Andrew Terrell Do you have kind of a range of offered rates? Edward Czajka Well, it depends on the term. Right now, we're seeing a very wide dispersion, not only amongst our own, but nationwide and our local area in terms of deposit rates based on maturity and duration. So we have priced it accordingly. But suffice to say, we're anywhere from the low 3s to the mid 4s. Li Yu Actually, Andrew, it also depends on competition. And locally, in the Asian community, many of our friends that is running a so-called Chinese New Year special and Preferred Bank has to stay flexible to compete with them. Andrew Terrell Yeah. Understood. Okay. And then on capital, I saw some of the buyback in the quarter and then obviously the dividend announcement. Just wanted to get your thoughts on capital repatriation into 2025 and specifically whether you thought should we expect a continued utilization of the buyback this year? Li Yu Buyback will probably depend on continuous calculation between the loan growth prospect and then also the pricing of the stock and the deposits level and this kind of capital ratio, this kind of total consideration. So all these things would miss you on the continuous basis. But being we're selling at the low multiple, comparatively speaking, and some of our local friends are setting a (inaudible) times earnings, there's a chance, if I start staying depressed, we're obviously thinking about buyback. Andrew Terrell Got it. Okay. Well, thank you guys for taking the questions. I appreciate it. Li Yu Thank you. Operator Matthew Clark, Piper Sandler. Matthew Clark Hey. Good morning, everyone. And thank you, Andrew. I don't think I have a choice but to ask about the spot rate on deposits if you had it at year end ideally. Edward Czajka The spot rate on deposits is 3.63%, Matthew. Matthew Clark Is that for December or at year end? Edward Czajka That was December. Matthew Clark Okay. And then how about on the expense run rate in the New Year. I guess, give us a sense for where you think you might start and any projects you're planning to work on here as a part of that expense group? Edward Czajka We do have a number of things. I don't want to talk about the full year, but I will talk about the first quarter if that's okay. So far, we're going to have probably be making a fairly healthy donation to the local wild fire relief funds. So that will increase our donation expense. We're also going to have payroll taxes elevated in Q1 as we normally do with the incentive compensation payout. In addition to that professional services, specifically legal, has been running higher than normal due to two of the assets we're working through. So right now, I'm looking at non-interest expense at about $23 million for Q1. Matthew Clark Okay. And of that $23 million, how much do you expect the charitable contribution to be? Edward Czajka Well, we're going to have a meeting about that later today, actually. But it's going to be low six figures. Li Yu Low to medium. Edward Czajka Low to mid six figures. Matthew Clark Got it. Okay. Some of us tend to exclude that stuff, so I just want to make sure. Li Yu (inaudible) Edward Czajka $23 million, yeah. Matthew Clark Okay. Great. And just shifting to credit, can you just remind us the makeup of -- or maybe just give us a sense for the makeup of the charge-offs this quarter? I know they were previously reserved for, but just kind of remind us of the situation there. And then in terms of your expectation for upgrading credits, off criticized, is that just a function of what rates have done and how that's helped that service? Or just give us some more color on your outlook on criticized. Li Yu Nick, will you answer that question? Nick Pi Sure. The charge-off actually because of the delay in the resolution of some of the impaired loans. And we decided to charge off first and well recognize recovery in the future if there's any settlement or resolutions at that moment. So with the charge-off, our non-accrual loans dropped substantially. And for the criticized, I believe, as Mr. Yu mentioned in the release, that we'll probably have some of the loans paid off or refinanced through the Q1 and also a few of the other credits are scheduled to be settled and resolved. And also a couple of credit, probably, with additional collateral, we're going to upgrade those loans in Q1. So we believe for Q1, criticized loan should somewhat drop in (inaudible). Matthew Clark Great. Thank you. Operator Gary Tenner, D.A. Davidson. Gary Tenner Thanks. Good morning. I was curious about the comment about not really seeing any increased activity levels. You had 7.5% loan growth for the year which most banks will be very happy with. Is there a churn within the portfolio at all, payoffs versus production, or are pipelines not building at this point in your customer base? Li Yu Wellington? Wellington Chen Well, the churn is always the factor. As you know, our bank, we do short-term loans quite a bit, so churning. And also on the C&I side, you can see the up and down. People is the nature of C&I revolving line of credit. And so over the year end, people feel a little bit bullish and increase expanding their business and all that. So that's the nature of our (inaudible). Gary Tenner Okay. So a more sustainable increase in activity levels is what's missing at this point? Wellington Chen Yeah. Gary Tenner Okay. Li Yu Well, actually, no. I stated earlier, so far at this stage, I think the entire banking industry including us is feeling that it will be moderate. Edward Czajka There is still certainly activity. But to Wellington's point, the payoff activity has been a little higher. Gary Tenner Okay. I appreciate that. And I know you said you don't want to talk about the full-year on expenses, and I appreciate that. But I'm just thinking out loud in terms of if activity levels remain, (inaudible) will be lower. Is there hiring or anything to be done to try to drive increased activity through lenders or anything? Edward Czajka Well, certainly, we always have -- when we do our annual planning, we certainly have a lot of new individuals budgeted in for relationship officers and business development officers. The question really becomes how well do we execute on that. In terms of other initiatives, going forward, obviously, IT costs continue to increase. But we are also establishing a branch right in the middle of Manhattan as well which we expect to open in March. And that certainly will add to occupancy expense going forward as well as personnel expense. Gary Tenner Great. Thank you. Operator Tim Coffey, Janney. Timothy Coffey Thanks. Good morning, everybody. If I could stick on that loan growth question as well and maybe more of a question about liquidity, the liquidity that you keep on balance sheet, a lot of it's kept short-term instead of growing the securities portfolio. Do you see any reason to change that strategy right now? Edward Czajka Thank you for the question, Tim. Very timely, because over the last three weeks or so, we've been purchasing treasuries, specifically 10-year. We made about $60 million in purchases over the last three weeks in 10-year treasury at an average yield of about 4.66%. So we've been trying to take advantage of some of the displacement that's been going on the longer end of the curve. I think we've done pretty well because this is one of the first times you have the 10-year exceeding fed funds in quite a while. Timothy Coffey Okay. That's good to hear. Is this kind of an initial style though? Or is this kind of let's see how it goes and then try and see what it looks like later on? Edward Czajka Yes, it's take a look right now and then see what it looks like later on. Yes, Tim. I don't foresee us continuing in that fashion. But certainly the time was here to start to put some money to work in a long-term fashion given where rates are at relative to historical rates. Timothy Coffey Okay. Great. And then my other question was on the allowance ratio. It's been coming down throughout the course of '24 and I'm wondering, is there a level where the company feels comfortable having that ratio at? Li Yu Well, Nick, you want to answer that? Nick Pi Yes, Mr. Yu. There are still several factors we have to take like a moderate risk posturing, calibrating our internal quantitative and also qualitative models. Because of the fed slowing down in the reductions which are still kind of a high cost of financing, put pressure on our customers, and stress to our business and also the economy. And also, the policy changes from the new administrations and also Congress, we have to closely watch on that. It may impact the economy as well. And also the reason, LA fires, we don't know at this moment, which might give some impact to the local economy. So we still have to factor all those in. However, I do believe that all those points that I mentioned should not be really causing any big trouble to the bank. And we believe based on the current loan quality trend, everything improvement, we believe our future reserve should gradually if I add on $6.6 million charge-off, we're still at the 1.38%. However, as I mentioned earlier, we want to charge off those things first. I believe in the long run, it should be reduced to a 1.15% to 1.25% range, I believe, which is also in line with our peer banks at this moment. Li Yu Tim, our philosophy is to fully reserve the loan loss and once we finally, we'll try to be a little bit more progressive about that. So that's the reason why all the charge-off we had in the fourth quarter, previously fully reserved started from last year, when we first identified the weaknesses in these credits. And that has been our philosophy. That's why our reserve ratio is always slightly higher than our peer group in 1.40%, 1.35% range. Now, at 1.27%, I think it's still 15 to 20 basis points higher than our peer group. Timothy Coffey Yeah, I totally agree. All right. Well, thank you very much. That was great. Those are my questions. Operator (Operator Instructions)David Feaster, Raymond James. David Feaster Hi. Good morning, everybody. Li Yu Hi. Good morning. David Feaster I just wanted to follow up on the loan growth side. It sounds like you alluded to payoff activity being still somewhat elevated. I'm curious of the competitive landscape, if you could touch on that? And what you're seeing the payoffs for? Iis it asset sales? Is it the competitive landscape? Is it just folks just paying off, for that matter? Just kind of curious what you're seeing. Li Yu Fourth quarter, we see a heavy payoff, I mean, comparatively speaking, compared to previous quarter. I think (inaudible) transaction, sales transaction is easy to do when the rates is down, the new buyer is able to finance it all, all prices correctly, and so on. So mostly, the elevated payoff activity. Our origination stays about consistent with the third quarter. So this is on the loan growth (inaudible). David Feaster Okay. That makes sense. And with rates coming down a bit, have you started to see any -- it doesn't sound like the pipelines changed much, have you seen any change in demand from your clients? Just curious, the pulse of the landscape from your perspective and where you're seeing opportunities. Li Yu Yeah. It's an abstract on these things because we try to survey our customers by having a constant feedback from our relationship officer. Generally, I think the market feels that rate has not come down enough for them to really be very active about the thing. There's a lot of money on the sideline. There's a lot of people willing to invest or getting to new. They just haven't feel it's safe enough for them to do that. They just want to (inaudible). So this is the best feedback we can get from our customers. David Feaster What do you think gets them off the sidelines? Is it another 50 basis points and cuts? Is it slower inflation? We got the election in the rear view. Just what do you think gets some of those guys off the sidelines? Li Yu Well, that probably is a question to (inaudible). I'm kind of (inaudible) in that respect about how much. But I think it probably takes some further cuts more than two. Right now, I understand you are forecasting two cuts for the year. David Feaster Yes. Okay. And then just if I could squeeze one more and going back to the credit side, the credit trends you're seeing are encouraging. Things are kind of working their way through the system. I was hoping you could just touch on the healthier borrowers. Obviously, higher rates has impacted the floating rate borrowers, but it seems like you've had a lot of success with clients pledging additional collateral. Could you just touch on the health of your borrowers and what you're seeing on the credit broadly? Li Yu Well, Wellington, you want to answer the first, okay? To see what else we can add on. Nick and I -- Wellington Chen The first, the health of -- Our clients are very healthy. I think that our clients -- we our relationship oriented and our loans are all fully sponsored and they have multiple flexibility. So that's where we benefit from. At any time, if a certain project that we get into have some issue, we will work it out and the borrower will put up additional collateral or remargin the loan. That's all. That's the strength of our lending. Li Yu Nick, you want to add anything? Nick Pi Yeah. Just like Wellington mentioned about. Our customer, especially our loans, we have very strong sponsor behind it. So whenever we encounter any issues, I believe, those sponsors will step up to work with the bank. And we work with each other to weather out the crisis. So during the past few quarters, you can see all this high rate environment pretty well. David Feaster Yeah. Li Yu David, starting from the underwriting, in underwriting, our philosophy is obviously that the cash flow and in case of real estate property, value of the assets. But one of the dominant factor to us is the guarantor strength. And most of the loan has a guarantor. So during a difficult time, you find out if the customer is personally guaranteeing the loan, they tend to be more serious to try to mitigate whatever the situation is happening. And on top of that, we think we have a fairly good group of customer (inaudible) well with all. David Feaster Okay. That's helpful. Have you started to see that service started to improve as rates have come down? Li Yu Obviously, the service will improve when the rates come down. We also see that gradually, the income level side seems to be stable, stabilized. David Feaster That's great. Thanks, everybody. Operator This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Li Yu for any closing remarks. Li Yu Thank you so very much. We're happy with our year 2024. We just are positive also for 2025. Thank you. Operator The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect. Sign in to access your portfolio
