LOS ANGELES, Jan. 25, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIBC), the holding company for Wilshire State Bank, today reported a net loss to common shareholders of $30.0 million, or ($1.02) per basic and diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2010. This compares to net income available to common shareholders of $3.2 million, or $0.11 per basic and diluted common share, for the same period of the prior year. The net loss reported for the fourth quarter of 2010 is attributable to $65.5 million in provision for loan losses that was largely driven by the disposal of a significant number of problem assets through note sales and charge-offs. The fourth quarter 2010 credit management actions had the effect of significantly lowering the risk profile of the Company's loan portfolio and reducing its level of non-accrual, troubled debt restructured (TDRs), classified and impaired loans.
"Our fourth quarter results reflect our aggressive actions to resolve lingering credit issues related to commercial real estate loans," said Ms. Joanne Kim, President and CEO of Wilshire Bancorp. "Following these actions, we have now disposed of the weakest credits in our loan portfolio and have positioned the Bank to move forward with more manageable credit costs. We will continue to focus on credit quality and the reduction of problem assets in future quarters."
"We expect to demonstrate the significant earnings power of the Bank and deliver improved profitability throughout 2011. With the reduction of problem assets from our balance sheet, we believe that increased gains on sales of small business administration (SBA) and residential mortgage loans, lower credit costs, and the effect of a company-wide initiative to reduce non-interest expense levels will help drive our earnings growth in 2011," said Ms. Kim.
FOURTH QUARTER 2010 SUMMARY:
- Decline in non-accrual loans – Non-accrual loans declined to $64.6 million, or 2.75% of gross loans, at December 31, 2010, from $76.3 million, or 3.12% of gross loans, at September 30, 2010.
- Decrease in impaired loans – Impaired loans were reduced from $192.6 million at September 30, 2010 to $118.5 million at December 31, 2010, a reduction of $74.1 million, or 38.5%, on a quarter-to-quarter basis.
- Decline in troubled debt restructured loans (TDRs) – Performing TDRs and impaired restructured loans declined $62.1 million, or 53.5%, to $53.9 million at December 31, 2010, from $115.9 million at September 30, 2010.
- Cost of funds reduction – Cost of funds saw continued reductions to 1.04% at December 31, 2010, down 20 basis points from 1.24% at September 30, 2010.
- Increase in demand deposits – Non-interest bearing demand deposits increased $13.8 million, or 3%, from the end of the prior quarter, further improving the deposit mix.
CREDIT QUALITY
During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company sold 45 loans with a carrying balance of approximately $129.3 million at an approximate 31% average weighted discount to their carrying values. These loans consisted of $128.7 million in commercial real estate loans and $619 thousand in commercial loans. Of the commercial real estate loans sold, loans secured by hotels totaled $37.8 million, or 29.2% of total loans sold, loans secured by multifamily residential properties accounted for $28.7 million, or 22.2%, loans secured by shopping centers totaled $27.0 million, or 20.9%, commercial and industrial building secured loans totaled $11.6 million, or 9.0%, loans secured by land totaled $10.2 million, or 7.9%, loans secured by carwash and gas stations totaled $8.6 million, or 6.6%, and other loans secured by real estate totaled $4.8 million or 3.7%.
Non-performing loans totaled $49.4 million, or 38.2% of the total sold, TDR loans totaled $35.8 million, or 27.7%, delinquent loans totaled $40.3 million or 31.1%. Legacy Wilshire loans or loans originated by the Company and not acquired through the FDIC-assisted acquisition of Mirae Bank in 2009, accounted for the majority of the loans at $127.0 million or 98.2% of loans sold.
For the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company recorded a provision for loan losses of $65.5 million compared to $18.0 million in the third quarter of 2010. Provision for loan losses recorded for the full year amounted to $132.7 million for 2010 compared to $68.6 million for 2009. The allowance for loan losses was $107.8 million, or 4.60% of gross loans, on December 31, 2010, compared to $99.0 million, or 4.04% of gross loans, at September 30, 2010. Allowance for loan losses as a percentage of legacy Wilshire loans increased 61 basis points to 5.05% from 4.44%. The coverage ratio of allowance for loan losses to non-performing assets also increased to 135.5% at December 31, 2010 from 106.9% at September 30, 2010.
Non-accrual Loans
At December 31, 2010, total non-accrual loans were $64.6 million, or 2.63% of gross loans, compared to $76.3 million, or 3.12% of gross loans, at September 30, 2010, and $69.4 million, or 3.85% of gross loans, at December 31, 2009. The decrease is primarily attributable to the sales of problem loans described above. Legacy Wilshire non-accrual loans totaled $54.2 million or 2.54% of total legacy Wilshire loans.
As previously disclosed, upon acquiring certain assets and liabilities of the former Mirae Bank, the Company entered into loss sharing agreements with the FDIC whereby the FDIC has agreed to share in losses on assets covered under the agreement. The assets covered by the loss sharing agreements include loans and foreclosed loan collateral existing on June 26, 2009, and acquired from Mirae Bank. As a result, loans acquired through the acquisition of Mirae Bank are identified as "covered" loans, and those that were originated at Wilshire are "non-covered" loans or "legacy Wilshire" loans. The following is a table showing "covered" and "non-covered" non-accrual loans by loan type:
Impaired Loans
Total impaired loans at December 31, 2010 were $118.5 million, a reduction of $74.1 million, or 38.5%, from $192.6 million at September 30, 2010, and a reduction of $16.9 million, or 12.5%, from $135.4 million at December 31, 2009. The reduction was mostly in legacy Wilshire loans which compared to September 30, 2010 decreased by $69.1 million to $99.1 million at December 31, 2010. A significant portion of the reduction of impaired loans can be attributed to the sale of problem loans during the fourth quarter of 2010. Total impaired loans by loan category are shown in the table below:
Loan Delinquencies
At December 31, 2010, total loan delinquencies increased to $39.2 million from $34.8 million at September 30, 2010. Compared to the previous year end, delinquencies declined by $1.4 million from $40.6 million at December 31, 2009. As a percentage of gross loans, delinquencies increased to 1.67% at December 31, 2010 from 1.42% at September 30, 2010. The increase in delinquencies occurred entirely in the "covered" loan portfolio while non-covered legacy Wilshire loans decreased from $32.0 million at September 30, 2010 to $31.4 million at December 31, 2010. The increase in delinquencies by days past due occurred in the 30-59 day delinquencies, while 60-89 day delinquencies declined during the fourth quarter. Delinquencies by days past due and loan type are reflected in the tables below:
Loan Charge-offs
Loan charge-offs for the fourth quarter of 2010 totaled $58.3 million, compared to $14.3 million in the third quarter of 2010 and $18.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. The increase in charge-offs resulted from aggressive charge-offs of non-performing assets in the fourth quarter of 2010, some of which were due to the sale of problem loans previously discussed. Charge-offs by loan type figures are reflected in the table below:
BALANCE SHEET
During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company continued to reposition its balance sheet by utilizing cash and cash equivalents, investments, and loan payoffs to fund the run-off of higher-costing money market and time deposit accounts. This repositioning had the effect of lowering the Company's overall cost of funds.
As a result of this strategy, total assets declined to $2.98 billion at December 31, 2010, from $3.23 billion at September 30, 2010 and $3.4 billion at December 31, 2009.
The Company experienced stronger loan demand in the fourth quarter of 2010 with new loan originations increasing to $169.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 from $112.9 million in the third quarter of 2010. SBA loan originations increased to $47.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 from $17.6 million in the third quarter of 2010, an increase of 171% on a quarterly basis. Total loans were $2.34 billion at December 31, 2010, compared to $2.44 billion at September 30, 2010, a decrease of $103.9 million, mostly due to the sale of problem loans during the fourth quarter.
Total deposits totaled $2.46 billion at December 31, 2010, down from $2.71 billion at September 30, 2010. The decline came from higher-cost money market accounts and time deposits. This decline was partially offset by increases in non-interest bearing deposits and savings and interest checking accounts. Core deposits represented 71.2% of total deposits at December 31, 2010. As a result of Management's strategy to improve the deposit mix over the past year, demand deposits increased 21.0% from December 31, 2009 to December 31, 2010 and as a percentage of total deposits, increased from 13.6% to 19.0% during the same period. During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company opened 2,026 new demand deposits accounts with a balance of $52.6 million at the December 31, 2010.
Total other real estate owned (OREOs) decreased by $1.0 million from $16.0 million at September 30, 2010 to $15.0 million at December 31, 2010. Covered OREOs at December 31, 2010 were $2.6 million and non-covered OREOs were $12.4 million. Outflow from OREO in the fourth quarter of 2010 consisted of 14 sold properties totaling $10.1 million. Inflows to OREO in the fourth quarter of 2010 consisted of 8 properties totaling $9.1 million.
Total cash and cash equivalents declined from $309.4 million at September 30, 2010 to $198.5 million at December 31, 2010 and investment securities declined from $367.5 million to $316.7 million for the same period. To reduce deposits costs, the Company ran off higher costing time and money market deposits supplemented by lower yielding cash, fed funds sold, and investment securities. Although the Company did not sell any investment securities in the fourth quarter of 2010, there were call transactions and mortgage backed securities pay-downs that resulted in a reduction in investment securities when compared to the previous quarter.
Capital Ratios
The Company's capital ratios continued to be well in excess of "well capitalized" regulatory requirements.
STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
Net interest Income and Margin
Net interest income before provision for loan losses totaled $26.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $29.7 million in the third quarter of 2010, and $29.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Net interest income before provisions for 2010 totaled $113.8 million, an increase from $99.5 million for the full year 2009. On a quarterly basis, interest income declined from $44.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009 and $39.8 million for the third quarter of 2010, to $34.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. For the full year, interest income declined from $158.4 million in 2009 to $156.5 million in 2010. The decrease in interest income can be largely attributed to the reversal of interest income of non-accrual loans totaling $4.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2010.
Interest expense declined to $8.0 million for the quarter ending December 31, 2010 and $42.7 million for the full year 2010. This compares to $10.1 million for the third quarter of 2010, $15.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, and $58.9 million for the full year 2009. The reduction in interest expense resulted from Management's strategy to lower deposit costs in the third and fourth quarter of 2010. As a result, interest expense declined 21% from the third to fourth quarter of 2010 and on a full year basis, interest expense declined 27% from 2009 to 2010.
Net interest margin was 3.74% in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to 3.93% in the third quarter of 2010 and 3.73% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The decline in net interest margin from the third quarter of 2010 was primarily attributable to the impact of interest reversals on non-accrual loans, which negatively impacted the net interest margin by 62 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 31 basis points for the full year 2010. Not including non-accrual interest reversals, net interest margin for the quarter and year ending December 31, 2010 would have been 4.36% and 4.07%, respectively. Without the effect of non-accrual interest income reversals, loan yield would have been 6.30% for the fourth quarter and 6.33% for the third quarter of 2010. Cost of funds declined to 1.04% in the fourth quarter of 2010 from 1.24% in the third quarter of 2010.
Non-Interest Income
Non-interest income was $6.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $10.0 million for the previous quarter and $17.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. Non-interest income for the full year 2010 was $33.8 million, a decrease from $57.3 million in 2009. Full year non-interest income in 2009 includes the gain from the acquisition of Mirae Bank of $21.7 million posted in the second quarter of 2009. The decline in non-interest income is primarily due to lower gains on the sale of securities. However, as the Company has continued to focus on SBA loan origination and sales in 2010, total gain on sale of loans increased 69% from $3.7 million in 2009 to $6.3 million in 2010. Management will continue to focus on SBA loan originations and sales in 2011. During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company originated $47.7 million in SBA loans and sold approximately $20.8 million, compared to originations of $17.6 million and sales of $19.6 million in the third quarter of 2010.
Non-Interest Expense
Total non-interest expense was $19.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with $16.5 million in the same period of the prior year and $14.8 million for the third quarter of 2010. Full year non-interest expense in 2010 was $65.3 million, an increase from $57.4 million in 2009. The increase was primarily due to expenses related to OREO which totaled $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 in addition to a $1.2 million loss on investment in low income housing tax credit funds. On a full year basis, salaries and wages increased from $26.5 million for 2009 to $29.1 million for 2010, partly attributable to the addition of staff from the acquisition of Mirae Bank in the second quarter of 2009. Along with the increase in OREO expenses, the increase in staff contributed to the full year increase in non-interest expense.
CONFERENCE CALL
Management will host its quarterly conference call on January 25, 2011, at 11:00 a.m. PDT (2:00 p.m. EDT). Investment professionals are invited to participate in the call by dialing 800-329-9097 (domestic number) or617-614-4929 (international number) and entering passcode 88937707.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Wilshire State Bank operates 24 branch offices in California, Texas, New Jersey and New York, and six loan production offices in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Denver, Annandale, Virginia, and Fort Lee, New Jersey, and is an SBA preferred lender nationwide. Wilshire State Bank is a community bank with a focus on commercial real estate lending and general commercial banking, with its primary market encompassing the multi-ethnic populations of the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. Wilshire Bancorp's strategic goals include increasing shareholder and franchise value by continuing to grow its multi-ethnic banking business and expanding its geographic reach to other similar markets with strong levels of small business activity. Visit us at .
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements concerning future performance, events, or any other guidance on future periods constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. Specific factors include, but are not limited to, loan production and sales, credit quality, the ability to expand net interest margin, the ability to continue to attract low-cost deposits, success of expansion efforts, competition in the marketplace and general economic conditions. The financial information contained in this release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes included in Wilshire Bancorp's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as they may be amended from time to time. Results of operations for the most recent quarter are not necessarily indicative of operating results for any future periods. Any projections in this release are based on limited information currently available to management and are subject to change. Since management will only provide guidance at certain points during the year, Wilshire Bancorp will not necessarily update the information. Such information speaks only as of the date of this release. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect financial results are included in filings by Wilshire Bancorp with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Joanne Kim, President & CEO, (213) 639-1843 Alex Ko, EVP & CFO, (213) 427-6560 www.wilshirebank.com