East West increased profitability each quarter of 2010, growing net income 46% in the second quarter to $36.3 million, 29% in the third quarter to $47.0 million, and 20% in the fourth quarter to $56.3 million.
Full Year 2010 Highlights
· | Record Earnings – East West increased net income during each quarter of 2010. For the full year 2010, net income was a record $164.6 million, a 115% increase above $76.6 million in 2009. |
· | Successful Integration Efforts – East West successfully integrated the operations of two entities, United Commercial Bank (“UCB”) and Washington First International Bank (“WFIB”). |
· | Fully Exited TARP Program – East West repurchased all $306.5 million preferred stock issued to the U.S. Treasury under the TARP program in December 2010. Our capital strength and strong operating results allowed us to redeem TARP without raising any capital. |
· | Credit Quality Improved – Charge-offs and provisions decreased each quarter of 2010. Full year 2010 net charge-offs were $202.5 million, a 57% or $272.8 million decrease as compared to the full year 2009. Nonperforming assets remained low at 0.94% of total assets. |
· | Record Deposit Growth – Total deposits grew to a record $15.6 billion, a $653.6 million or 4% increase during the full year 2010. Core deposits grew to a record $8.9 billion as of December 31, 2010, an increase of $1.8 billion or 25% increase during the full year 2010. |
Fourth Quarter 2010 Summary
· | Strong Fourth Quarter Earnings – For the fourth quarter 2010, net income was $56.3 million, an increase of $9.4 million over net income of $47.0 million reported in the third quarter of 2010. Excluding the noncash charge of $18.7 million or $0.13 per dilutive share resulting from accelerated discount accretion from the repurchase of the preferred stock from the U.S. Treasury, earnings per share totaled $0.35 for the fourth quarter. 1 |
· | Strong Net Interest Margin –The core net interest margin, excluding the net impact to interest income of $43.8 million resulting from the disposition of covered loans, totaled 4.43% for the quarter. The fourth quarter core net interest margin of 4.43% reflects an increase from 3.98% in the third quarter of 2010. 2 |
· | Record C&I Loan Growth – Quarter to date, non-covered commercial and trade finance loans grew a record $287.2 million or 17% to $2.0 billion. |
· | Significant Deposit Growth – Total deposits grew to a record $15.6 billion, a $343.3 million or 2% increase from September 30, 2010. Core deposits grew to a record $8.9 billion as of December 31, 2010, an increase of $395.7 million or 5% from September 30, 2010. |
· | Net Charge-offs Down 15% from Q3 2010, Down 71% from Q4 2009 – Net charge-offs declined to $38.3 million, a decrease of $6.7 million or 15% from the prior quarter and a decrease of $92.3 million or 71% from the fourth quarter of 2009. |
· | Nonperforming Assets Remains Below 1% – Nonperforming assets decreased to $194.8 million, or 0.94% of total assets. This is the fifth consecutive quarter East West has reported a nonperforming assets to total assets ratio under 1.00%. |
· | Strong Capital Levels – Even after repayment of TARP, our capital levels remain very high. As of December 31, 2010, East West’s Tier 1 risk-based capital and total risk-based capital ratios were 15.9% and 17.6%, respectively, significantly higher than the well capitalized requirements of 6% and 10%, respectively. |
Management Guidance
The Company is providing initial guidance for the first quarter and full year 2011. Currently management estimates that fully diluted earnings per share for the full year of 2011 will range from $1.44 to $1.48, or an increase of approximately 73% to 78% from 2010. This EPS guidance is based on overall asset growth of approximately 5%, provision for loan losses of $95 million to $100 million, and an adjusted net interest margin between 4.15% and 4.25%.
Management currently estimates that fully diluted earnings per share for the first quarter of 2011 will range from $0.33 to $0.35 per diluted share. This EPS guidance is based on the following assumptions:
· | A stable interest rate environment and a net interest margin between 4.15% and 4.20% |
· | Provision for loan losses of approximately $25 million to $30 million |
· | Total noninterest expense of approximately $100 million, net of amounts to be reimbursed by the FDIC |
· | Effective tax rate of approximately 36% |
Balance Sheet Summary
At December 31, 2010, total assets increased to $20.7 billion compared to $20.4 billion at September 30, 2010, and $20.6 billion at December 31, 2009. Total assets were primarily comprised of $13.7 million of loans receivable and $2.9 million of investment securities. Deposits totaled $15.6 billion at December 31, 2010.
Loans receivable at December 31, 2010 totaled $13.7 billion compared to $13.6 billion at September 30, 2010, and $14.1 billion at December 31, 2009. During the fourth quarter non-covered loan balances increased $321.1 million or 4%, to $8.9 billion at December 31, 2010. The increase in non-covered loans was primarily driven by an increase in commercial and trade finance loans of $287.2 million or 17%. As of December 31, 2010, we classified $220.1 million of loans as held for sale, primarily comprised of student loans. Covered loans totaled $4.8 billion at December 31, 2010, as compared to $5.0 billion at September 30, 2010, and $5.6 billion at December 31, 2009.
Deposit balances increased to a record $15.6 billion at December 31, 2010, compared to $15.3 billion at September 30, 2010, and $15.0 billion at December 31, 2009. Total core deposits increased to a record $8.9 billion as of December 31, 2010, or an increase of $395.7 million or 5% from September 30, 2010, and an increase of $1.8 billion or 25% from December 31, 2009. The increase in core deposits during the fourth quarter was driven by a record increase in both noninterest-bearing demand deposits and money market deposits. Noninterest-bearing demand deposits increased by $104.7 million or 4% to $2.7 billion and money market deposits increased by $266.9 million or 6% to $4.5 billion at December 31, 2010.
Covered Loans
Covered loans totaled $4.8 billion as of December 31, 2010, a decrease of $174.6 million during the fourth quarter. The decrease in the covered loan portfolio was mainly due to paydowns, payoffs and charge-off activity.
The covered loan portfolio is primarily comprised of loans acquired from the FDIC-assisted acquisition of UCB which are covered under loss share agreements with the FDIC. After actively managing the UCB covered loan portfolio for approximately one year, we have resolved many problem loans and concluded that the credit quality is performing better than originally estimated. As such, we lowered the credit discount on the UCB covered loan portfolio in the fourth quarter. Our original credit discount on the UCB covered loan balance was approximately 20% and we have now reduced this to approximately 14%. By lowering the credit discount, interest income will increase over the life of the loans. Correspondingly, with the lowered credit discount, the expected
reimbursement from the FDIC under the loss sharing agreement will also decrease, resulting in amortization on the FDIC indemnification asset which is recorded as a charge to noninterest income. The net decrease in the FDIC indemnification asset resulting from loan disposition activity and amortization of the indemnification asset was $43.8 million in the fourth quarter.
In total, the net decrease in the FDIC indemnification asset and receivable was $36.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 as detailed below:
| | | |
| | Quarter Ended December 31, 2010 | |
($ in thousands) | | | |
Net decrease due to covered loan dispositions | | $ | (43,783 | ) |
and amortization of the indemnification asset | | | | |
Increase due to FDIC reimbursable expenses | | | 12,958 | |
Recoveries and settlement adjustments | | | (5,218 | ) |
Net decrease in FDIC indemnification asset and receivable | | $ | (36,043 | ) |
| | | | |
The FDIC receivable was increased by $13.0 million due to reimbursable expense claims. During the fourth quarter we incurred $16.2 million in expenses on covered loans and other real estate owned, 80% of which is reimbursable from the FDIC. The impact of the reimbursable expenses on covered loans and other real estate owned is recorded as an increase to the FDIC receivable as noninterest income. Also, during the fourth quarter, we recorded a decrease to the FDIC receivable of $5.2 million related to settlement adjustments.
Fourth Quarter 2010 Operating Results
Net Interest Income
Although the low interest rate environment continues to be a challenge for the industry, our net interest income has remained strong. Throughout 2010, East West has focused on maintaining a strong loan yield, improving the yield on other earning assets and growing low-cost core deposits. East West reduced the cost of deposits to 0.67% for the fourth quarter of 2010, down from 0.75% in the third quarter of 2010 and 1.11% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
The core net interest margin, excluding the net impact to interest income of $43.8 million resulting from the loan disposition activity and amortization of the indemnification asset, totaled 4.43% for the quarter, compared to 3.98% in the third quarter 2010. 1 Management believes that this adjusted net interest margin provides more clarity on the core net interest income and net interest margin, comparability to prior periods and the ongoing performance of the Company.
Noninterest Income (Loss)
The Company reported a total noninterest (loss) for the fourth quarter of ($17.3) million, compared to noninterest income of $29.3 million in the third quarter of 2010 and income of $415.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Noninterest income for the fourth quarterof 2009 included a purchase accounting gain of $471.0 million from the acquisition of UCB. The noninterest loss in the fourth quarter of 2010 was due to a net decrease in the FDIC indemnification asset and receivable of $36.0 million, discussed in more detail above.
Total fees and operating income increased to $18.3 million for the fourth quarter, an increase from both the third quarter 2010 and fourth quarter 2009 as detailed below:
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Quarter Ended | | | Quarter Ended | | | Quarter Ended | | | % Change | |
($ in thousands) | | December 31, 2010 | | | September 30, 2010 | | | December 31, 2009 | | | (Yr/Yr) | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Branch fees | | $ | 7,681 | | | $ | 7,976 | | | $ | 7,863 | | | | -2 | % |
Letters of credit fees and commissions | | | 3,323 | | | | 2,888 | | | | 2,570 | | | | 29 | % |
Ancillary loan fees | | | 2,101 | | | | 2,367 | | | | 1,474 | | | | 43 | % |
Other operating income | | | 5,187 | | | | 4,178 | | | | 2,490 | | | | 108 | % |
Total fees & other operating income | | $ | 18,292 | | | $ | 17,409 | | | $ | 14,397 | | | | 27 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
During the fourth quarter, we recorded gains on sales of loans of $6.3 million, primarily from the sale of $206.7 million in student loans and recorded a net gain on sale of investments of $5.2 million, primarily driven by the sale of $269.7 million of investment securities. Further, we recorded an impairment loss of $6.3 million related to one private-label MBS, the only private-label MBS that we own, and recorded a purchase accounting adjustment of $4.7 million related to the WFIB and UCB acquisitions.
Noninterest Expense
Noninterest expense totaled $113.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $99.9 million for the third quarter of 2010, and $87.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase in noninterest expense quarter over quarter was primarily due to an increase in other real estate owned expenses to $16.9 million, compared to $5.7 million in the prior quarter. The increase in other real estate owned expense was largely due to writedowns and losses on sales of covered assets. In the fourth quarter, we incurred $16.2 million in expenses on covered loans and other real estate owned for which we expect that 80% or $13.0 million will be reimbursed by the FDIC. Of the $13.0 million of expenses reimbursable by the FDIC, $10.3 million is related to net writedowns and expenses on other real estate owned, and $2.7 million is related to leg al and other loan related expenses. Noninterest expense excluding amounts to be reimbursed by the FDIC totaled $100.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. 1
A summary of the noninterest expenses for the fourth quarter, compared to the third quarter, is detailed below:
| | | | | | |
| | Quarter Ended | | | Quarter Ended | |
($ in thousands) | | December 31, 2010 | | | September 30, 2010 | |
Total noninterest expense: | | $ | 113,743 | | | $ | 99,945 | |
Amounts to be reimbursed on covered assets (80% of actual expense amount) | | | 12,958 | | | | 7,834 | |
Noninterest expense excluding reimbursement amounts | | $ | 100,785 | | | $ | 92,111 | |
| | | | | | | | |
In addition to the increase in expenses on covered assets, amortization of affordable housing investments increased $1.5 million and consulting expenses increased $700 thousand. Management anticipates that in the first quarter of 2011, noninterest expense will be approximately $100 million, net of amounts reimbursable from the FDIC.
The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was 34.3% compared to 36.1% in the prior quarter. The effective tax rate is reduced from the statutory tax rate primarily due to the utilization of tax credits related to affordable housing investments.
Full Year 2010 Operating Results
For the full year 2010, net interest income increased to $894.7 million, compared to $485.7 million for the full year 2009. The adjusted net interest margin for 2010 was 4.25%, a 73 basis point increase from the adjusted net interest margin of 3.52% in 2009.
Full year noninterest income for 2010 totaled $39.3 million, a decrease of $351.7 million over 2009. Noninterest income for 2009 included a purchase accounting gain of $471.0 million from the acquisition of UCB.
Total fees and other operating income for the full year 2010 increased to $67.8 million, a $23.1 million, or 52% increase from full year 2009. As compared to 2009, branch fees increased $10.3 million or 46%, letters of credit fees and commissions increased $3.5 million or 42%, ancillary loan fees increased $2.2 million or 36%, and other operating income increased $7.1 million or 93%, primarily due to the acquisition of UCB. A summary of these fees and other operating income items is detailed below:
| | Year Ended | | | Year Ended | | | % Change | |
($ in thousands) | | December 31, 2010 | | | December 31, 2009 | | | (Yr/Yr) | |
| | | | | | | | | |
Branch fees | | $ | 32,634 | | | $ | 22,326 | | | | 46 | % |
Letters of credit fees and commissions | | | 11,816 | | | | 8,338 | | | | 42 | % |
Ancillary loan fees | | | 8,526 | | | | 6,286 | | | | 36 | % |
Other operating income | | | 14,794 | | | | 7,680 | | | | 93 | % |
Total fees & other operating income | | $ | 67,770 | | | $ | 44,630 | | | | 52 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
Noninterest expense totaled $477.9 million for the full year 2010, 96% or $234.7 million higher than 2009. This increase from 2009 was largely due to our increased size from the acquisitions of UCB and WFIB and due to expenses incurred on covered assets. Year-to-date, the Company incurred approximately $63.1 million of expenses on covered assets, 80% or $50.5 million of which is reimbursable by the FDIC.
For the full year 2010, the effective tax rate was 35.7% compared with 21.69% in the prior year. Management anticipates an effective tax rate for the full year 2011 to be approximately 36%.
Throughout 2010 East West continued to proactively manage credit, resulting in improvements in key asset quality metrics. For the fifth consecutive quarter, both net charge-offs and the provision for loan losses have declined. The provision for loan losses was $29.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, a decrease of $8.8 million or 23% compared to the previous quarter. Total net charge-offs decreased to $38.3 million for the fourth quarter, a decrease of $6.7 million or 15% from the previous quarter. The provision for loan losses and net charge-offs for each quarter of 2010 are detailed below:
| | For the three months ended, | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | % Change | |
($ in thousands) | | December 31, 2010 | | | September 30, 2010 | | | June 30, 2010 | | | March 31, 2010 | | | December 31, 2009 | | | Yr/Yr | |
Net charge-offs | | $ | 38,344 | | | $ | 45,057 | | | $ | 55,196 | | | $ | 63,929 | | | $ | 130,656 | | | | -71 | % |
Provision for loan losses | | $ | 29,834 | | | $ | 38,648 | | | $ | 55,256 | | | $ | 76,421 | | | $ | 140,001 | | | | -79 | % |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Management expects that the provision for loan losses will continue to decrease and range from $25 million to $30 million for the first quarter of 2011 and range from $95 million to $100 million for the full year 2011.
Nonperforming assets, excluding covered assets decreased to $194.8 million or 0.94% of total assets at December 31, 2010. Nonperforming assets, excluding covered assets, as of December 31, 2010 included nonaccrual loans totaling $172.9 million and REO assets totaling $21.9 million.
Notwithstanding the improvements in credit noted above, we have maintained a strong allowance for non-covered loan losses at $230.4 million or 2.64% of non-covered loans receivable at December 31, 2010. This compares to an allowance for loan losses of $240.3 million or 2.79% at September 30, 2010 and $238.8 million or 2.81% of outstanding loans at December 31, 2009.