Hope Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: HOPE), the holding company of Bank of Hope (the “Bank”), today reported unaudited financial results for its second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2021.

For the three months ended June 30, 2021, net income increased 23% to $53.8 million, or $0.43 per diluted common share, from $43.7 million, or $0.35 per diluted common share, in the preceding first quarter and increased 101% from $26.8 million, or $0.22 per diluted common share, in the year-ago second quarter.

“Second quarter results underscore the sound management of our operations as the economy gradually recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kevin S. Kim, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hope Bancorp, Inc. “The composition of our deposits continued to improve with meaningful increases in our lower-cost deposit categories, and our cost of interest bearing deposits declined another 8 basis points quarter-over-quarter. Together with higher average yield on loans, this supported another quarter of net interest margin expansion. After five quarters of significant reserve build under the CECL methodology, we recorded a negative provision for credit losses of $7.0 million driven largely by the improved macroeconomic factors. We also sold $30 million of SBA 7(a) loans given the near record-high premiums available in the secondary markets, and recorded a gain on sale of $2.4 million. All of these factors contributed to a 23% quarter-over-quarter increase in net income of $53.8 million for the 2021 second quarter.

“Loan originations for the quarter were also strong at a record high $894 million and reflected a 61% increase from the preceding first quarter when excluding the second round of PPP originations. However, a considerable decrease in warehouse line utilizations reflecting industry trends, a strategic sale of $119 million of higher-risk hotel/motel loans, PPP loan forgiveness of $164 million, and residential mortgage and SBA 7(a) loan sales contributed to a 2% quarter-over-quarter decrease in loans receivable. While some of these headwinds to net loan growth are expected to persist near-term, we have a robust loan pipeline supported by strong macroeconomic forecasts, and we believe we are well positioned to deliver enhanced profitability for 2021,” said Kim.

Q2 2021 Highlights

• Net interest income before provision for credit losses increased 3% quarter-over-quarter to $126.6 million.
• Net interest margin expanded 5 basis points quarter-over-quarter, largely reflecting an increase in the average yield on loans and lower cost of deposits.
• Noninterest bearing demand deposits increased 4% quarter-over-quarter and accounted for 38% of total deposits.
• Cost of interest bearing deposits decreased 8 basis points and total cost of deposits decreased 6 basis points quarter-over-quarter marking the seventh consecutive quarter of declining deposit costs.
• Company recorded a negative provision for credit losses of $7.0 million.
• Net income increased 23% quarter-over-quarter and totaled $53.8 million, or $0.43 per diluted common share.
• Pre-tax pre-provision income increased 6% quarter-over-quarter to $64.5 million.
• Return on average assets increased to 1.25% from 1.02% in Q1 2021, and return on average equity increased to 10.41% from 8.53%.
• Loan originations increased to a record high $894.1 million from $847.1 million in the first quarter of 2021.
• Loans receivable decreased 2% to $13.42 billion, reflecting decreases in warehouse line utilizations, the sales of $30.0 million of SBA loans, $42.6 million of residential mortgage loans and an aggregate $119.3 million of hotel/motel loans, along with payoffs and pay downs.

Financial Highlights

Operating Results for the 2021 Second Quarter

Net interest income before the negative provision for credit losses for the 2021 second quarter increased 3% to $126.6 million from $122.6 million in the 2021 first quarter and increased 15% from $109.8 million in the 2020 second quarter. The Company attributed the increase in net interest income primarily to meaningful reductions in interest expense due to lower trending cost of deposits and higher interest income on average loans.

The net interest margin for the 2021 second quarter increased 5 basis points to 3.11% from 3.06% in the preceding 2021 first quarter, reflecting the benefits of lower deposit costs and higher average yield on loans. The net interest margin in the prior-year second quarter was 2.79%.

The weighted average yield on loans for the 2021 second quarter increased 4 basis points to 3.98% from 3.94% in the 2021 first quarter, reflecting the accelerated recognition of net fees due to PPP loan forgiveness. For the 2020 second quarter, the weighted average yield on loans was 4.23%.

The weighted average cost of deposits for the 2021 second quarter decreased for the seventh consecutive quarter to 0.30%, representing a 6 basis point decrease from 0.36% for the 2021 first quarter and a 57 basis point decrease from 0.87% for the 2020 second quarter. The Company attributed the significant improvements in the weighted average cost of deposits to a continuing shift in its deposit mix to lower-cost core deposits and the ongoing downward repricing of interest bearing deposits. The cost of interest bearing deposits was 0.48%, 0.56% and 1.17% for the quarters ended June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020, respectively.

Noninterest income for the 2021 second quarter increased to $11.1 million from $8.8 million for the 2021 first quarter. In response to the significantly increased premiums available in the secondary market for SBA 7(a) loans, the Company sold $30.0 million of the guaranteed portfolio of its SBA 7(a) loans during the 2021 second quarter and recorded $2.4 million in net gains on sales of SBA loans, versus none in the preceding first quarter. This was partially offset by a reduction in net gains on sales of other loans, representing residential mortgage loans of $1.0 million for the 2021 second quarter, compared with $2.1 million in the preceding first quarter. Noninterest income in the year-ago second quarter totaled $11.2 million.

Noninterest expense for the 2021 second quarter increased to $73.1 million from $70.4 million in the preceding first quarter and $67.0 million in the year-ago second quarter.

Salaries and employee benefits expense for the 2021 second quarter increased to $42.3 million from $41.2 million in the preceding first quarter, largely reflecting annual merit increases effective at the beginning of the second quarter.

Professional fees for the three months ended June 30, 2021 increased $1.5 million quarter-over-quarter reflecting higher litigation expenses related to existing cases. The Company recorded a one-time $2.1 million impairment during the 2021 second quarter related to the disposition of a licensed software platform. These factors which contributed to higher noninterest expense for the 2021 second quarter were partially offset by a $2.2 million reduction in credit related expenses quarter-over-quarter.

The Company’s efficiency ratio for the 2021 second quarter improved to 53.12% from 53.61% for the preceding first quarter and from 55.37% for the year-ago second quarter. Noninterest expense as a percentage of average assets increased to 1.70% for the 2021 second quarter from 1.65% for the 2021 first quarter and from 1.60% for the 2020 second quarter.

The effective tax rate for the 2021 second quarter increased to 24.8% from 24.2% in the preceding quarter, reflecting the Company’s updated projection for increased annual pretax income than previously budgeted. In the year-ago quarter, the effective tax rate was 26.8%.

Balance Sheet Summary

New loan originations funded during the 2021 second quarter increased to $894.1 million from $847.1 million in the preceding first quarter and $832.0 million in the 2020 second quarter. Following are the components of new loan production for the quarters ended June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

During the 2021 second quarter, the Company acquired $95.6 million of 30-year fixed rate residential mortgage loans. In addition to the sale of $42.6 million in residential mortgage loans and $30.0 million of SBA 7(a) loans during the 2021 second quarter, the Company completed an aggregate $119.3 million in sales of loans from its hotel/motel portfolio that were viewed to be higher risk requiring a longer recovery period from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Altogether with aggregate payoffs and pay downs, first round PPP loan forgiveness of $164.5 million and a $231.0 million quarter-over-quarter decrease in warehouse line utilizations, loans receivable at June 30, 2021 decreased 2% to $13.42 billion from $13.70 billion at March 31, 2021. Loans receivable at June 30, 2020 amounted to $12.87 billion.

Total deposits at June 30, 2021 increased 3% to $14.73 billion from $14.30 billion at March 31, 2021 and increased 4% from $14.12 billion at June 30, 2020. Quarter-over-quarter, noninterest bearing demand deposits as of June 30, 2021 increased 4% and money market and other interest bearing demand deposit balances increased 16%, while time deposits decreased 16%. On a year-over-year basis, noninterest bearing demand deposits as of June 30, 2021 increased 40% and money market and NOW account balances increased 20%, while time deposits decreased 40%.

Following is the deposit composition as of June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

Following is the deposit composition as a percentage of total deposits and a breakdown of cost of deposits as of and for the quarters ended June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

Allowance for Credit Losses

For the 2021 second quarter, the Company recorded a negative provision for credit losses of $7.0 million compared with provision for credit losses of $3.3 million in the preceding first quarter and $17.5 million for the 2020 second quarter. The allowance release in the 2021 second quarter largely reflects improved macroeconomic forecasts, together with the reduction in its loan portfolio and the $119.3 million in sales from the hotel/motel portfolio.

Following is the allowance for credit losses and allowance coverage ratios as of June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

Credit Quality

Following are the components of nonperforming assets as of June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

The increase in delinquent loans 90 days or more on accrual status as of June 30, 2021 largely reflects one loan which matured during the 2021 second quarter. This loan was renewed early in the third quarter of 2021 and is currently performing. The increase in accruing troubled debt restructured loans largely reflects maturity concessions for two credit relationships.

Following are the components of criticized loan balances as of June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

The modest increase in special mention loans quarter-over-quarter primarily reflects the addition of two large credit relationships. The first is a hotel/motel relationship that was downgraded from the COVID-watch grade to Special Mention following the expiration of the modification. The second is a construction loan that is taking longer to stabilize following the completion of the project due to the pandemic-related environment.

Following are net charge offs and net charge offs to average loans receivable on an annualized basis for the three months ended June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

Net charge offs for the 2021 second quarter includes charge offs of $11.8 million, all of which was previously reserved, from the sale of $119.3 million in hotel/motel loans during the 2021 second quarter.

Capital

At June 30, 2021, the Company and the Bank continued to exceed all regulatory capital requirements to be classified as a “well-capitalized” financial institution. Following are capital ratios for the Company as of June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

Following are tangible common equity (“TCE”) per share and TCE as a percentage of tangible assets as of June 30, 2021, March 31, 2021 and June 30, 2020:

Investor Conference Call

The Company previously announced that it will host an investor conference call on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time / 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time to review financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2021. Investors and analysts are invited to access the conference call by dialing 866-235-9917 (domestic) or 412-902-4103 (international) and asking for the “Hope Bancorp Call.” A presentation to accompany the earnings call will be available at the Investor Relations section of Hope Bancorp’s website at www.ir-hopebancorp.com. Other interested parties are invited to listen to a live webcast of the call available at the Investor Relations section of Hope Bancorp’s website. After the live webcast, a replay will remain available at the Investor Relations section of Hope Bancorp’s website for one year. A telephonic replay of the call will be available at 877-344-7529 (domestic) or 412-317-0088 (international) for one week through July 28, 2021, replay access code 10158798.

About Hope Bancorp, Inc.

Hope Bancorp, Inc. is the holding company of Bank of Hope, the first and only super regional Korean-American bank in the United States with $17.47 billion in total assets as of June 30, 2021. Headquartered in Los Angeles and serving a multi-ethnic population of customers across the nation, Bank of Hope operates 53 full-service branches in California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Alabama. The Bank also operates SBA loan production offices in Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Portland, Oregon, New York City, Northern California and Houston; commercial loan production offices in Northern California and Seattle; residential mortgage loan production offices in Southern California; and a representative office in Seoul, Korea. Bank of Hope specializes in core business banking products for small and medium-sized businesses, with an emphasis in commercial real estate and commercial lending, SBA lending and international trade financing. Bank of Hope is a California-chartered bank, and its deposits are insured by the FDIC to the extent provided by law. Bank of Hope is an Equal Opportunity Lender. For additional information, please go to bankofhope.com. By including the foregoing website address link, the Company does not intend to and shall not be deemed to incorporate by reference any material contained or accessible therein.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some statements in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, expectations regarding the business environment in which we operate, projections of future performance, perceived opportunities in the market and statements regarding our business strategies, objectives and vision. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “will,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates” or similar expressions. With respect to any such forward-looking statements, the Company claims the protection provided for in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results, performance or achievements may differ significantly from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: possible deterioration in economic conditions in our areas of operation; interest rate risk associated with volatile interest rates and related asset-liability matching risk; liquidity risks; risk of significant non-earning assets, and net credit losses that could occur, particularly in times of weak economic conditions or times of rising interest rates; the failure of or changes to assumptions and estimates underlying the Company’s allowances for credit losses, regulatory risks associated with current and future regulations; and the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our financial position, results of operations, liquidity, and capitalization. For additional information concerning these and other risk factors, see the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of events or circumstances after the date of such statements except as required by law.