East West Bancorp, Inc. (“East West” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: EWBC), parent company of East West Bank, reported its financial results for the full year and fourth quarter of 2023. Full year 2023 net income was $1.2 billion, or $8.18 per diluted share. Excluding $70 million pre-tax of FDIC Special Assessment-related expense (the “FDIC charge”) and $7 million of net losses on an AFS debt security, adjusted diluted earnings per share¹ for the year were $8.56.

Fourth quarter 2023 net income was $239 million, or $1.69 per diluted share. Excluding the FDIC charge and a $3 million gain on the sale of an AFS debt security, adjusted earnings per diluted share were $2.02 for the fourth quarter. Return on average common equity was 18% in 2023, and book value per share grew 17% year-over-year.

“I am pleased to report that 2023 was another year of record revenue and earnings for East West,” stated Dominic Ng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of East West. “As I look back I am very proud of our strong performance, marked by an over 20% adjusted return on average tangible common equity and 18% growth in tangible book value per share. East West demonstrated the resilience of our business model and the loyalty of our customers through a tumultuous year.”²

“Thanks to the unwavering dedication of our colleagues to clients and the strength and diversification of our balance sheet, East West has emerged even stronger from the market disruption that characterized 2023. As we start a new year, we are pleased to announce a 15% increase in our common stock dividend. We remain committed to delivering top-tier shareholder returns, supported by prudent balance sheet growth, industry-leading efficiency, and sound risk management.”

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

BALANCE SHEET

• Total Assets – Total assets were $69.6 billion as of December 31, 2023, an increase of $1.3 billion from $68.3 billion as of September 30, 2023, primarily reflecting loan growth. Year-over-year, total assets grew $5.5 billion or 9% from $64.1 billion as of December 31, 2022.
  
  
  
  Fourth quarter 2023 average interest-earning assets of $65.5 billion were up nearly $0.5 billion, or 1%, from $65.1 billion in the third quarter of 2023, primarily due to an increase of $1.4 billion in average loans outstanding, partly offset by a $0.9 billion decrease in interest-bearing cash and deposits with banks.

• Total Loans – Total loans reached a record $52.2 billion as of December 31, 2023, an increase of $1.3 billion, or 3%, from $50.9 billion as of September 30, 2023. Year-over-year, total loans were up $4.0 billion, or 8%, from $48.2 billion as of December 31, 2022.
  
  
  
  Fourth quarter 2023 average loans of $51.3 billion grew $1.4 billion, or 3%, from the third quarter of 2023. The increase was driven by growth across all our major loan portfolios.

• Total Deposits – Total deposits were $56.1 billion as of December 31, 2023, an increase of $1.0 billion, or 2%, from $55.1 billion as of September 30, 2023, primarily reflecting an increase in customer deposits. Noninterest-bearing deposits made up 28% of our total deposits as of December 31, 2023, down from 29% as of September 30, 2023. Year-over-year, total deposits increased $125 million from $56.0 billion as of December 31, 2022.
  
  
  
  Fourth quarter 2023 average deposits of $55.4 billion increased $208 million from the third quarter of 2023, with growth in average money market and time deposits offset by declines in other deposit categories.

• Strong Capital Levels – As of December 31, 2023, stockholders’ equity was $7.0 billion, up 5% quarter-over-quarter. The stockholders’ equity to asset ratio was 9.98% as of December 31, 2023, an increase of 32 basis points quarter-over-quarter.
  
  
  
  As of December 31, 2023, tangible book value² per share was $46.27, up 7% quarter-over-quarter and 18% year-over-year. The tangible common equity ratio² was 9.37%, an increase of 34 basis points quarter-over-quarter.
  
  
  
  All of East West’s regulatory capital ratios are well in excess of regulatory requirements for well-capitalized institutions, as well as above regional and national bank averages. The common equity tier 1 (“CET1”) capital ratio increased to 13.31%, and the total risk-based capital ratio increased slightly by 3 basis points to 14.76%, as of December 31, 2023.

OPERATING RESULTS

Full Year Earnings - Full year 2023 net income was a record $1.2 billion or $8.18 per diluted share, both up 3% year-over-year. Full year revenue was a record $2.6 billion, an increase of $263 million, or 11% year-over-year, and full year adjusted pre-tax, pre-provision income was a record $1.8 billion, an increase of $187 million, or 12% year-over-year.

Fourth Quarter Earnings – Fourth quarter 2023 net income was $239 million, and diluted earnings per share (“EPS”) were $1.69.

Fourth Quarter 2023 Compared to Third Quarter 2023

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income totaled $575 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 1% from $571 million in the third quarter. Net interest margin (“NIM”) was 3.48%, unchanged from the third quarter.

• NIM benefited from higher loan balances and a more favorable asset mix, offset by the higher cost of interest-bearing deposits and changes in the deposit mix in favor of higher-cost customer deposits.
• The average loan yield was 6.61%, up 10 basis points from the third quarter. The average interest-earning asset yield was 6.00%, up 13 basis points from the third quarter.
• The average cost of funds was 2.74%, up 15 basis points from the third quarter. The average cost of deposits was 2.60%, up 17 basis points from the third quarter.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income totaled $80 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of $3 million, or 4%, from $77 million in the third quarter. Net gains on sales of loans were $4 million in the fourth quarter, primarily reflecting the sale of Small Business Administration loans within the quarter. Net gains on AFS debt securities were $3 million, representing a partial recovery against the $10 million pre-tax impairment loss taken in the first quarter of 2023 on a subordinated AFS debt security of a failed bank.

• Fee income⁴ of $73 million was up $6 million, or 9%, from $67 million in the third quarter.
• Customer derivative income (loss) was a loss of $1 million in the fourth quarter, compared with income of $11 million in the third quarter. The quarter-over-quarter decrease of close to $12 million was due to an unfavorable change in mark-to-market adjustments. The mark-to-market and credit valuation adjustments on customer and other derivatives was a loss of $7 million in the fourth quarter, compared with a gain of $5 million in the third quarter. Customer-driven derivative revenue of $6 million in the fourth quarter was essentially unchanged from the third quarter.
• Foreign exchange income, wealth management fees, and lending fees each increased by $2 million, reflecting higher customer activity.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense totaled $290 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of $38 million, or 15% from $252 million in the third quarter, including $70 million for the FDIC charge⁵. Fourth quarter noninterest expense consisted of $215 million of adjusted noninterest expense⁶, and $5 million in amortization expenses related to tax credit and other investments and core deposit intangibles.

• Adjusted noninterest expense of $215 million increased nearly $14 million, or 7%, from $202 million in the third quarter. This was driven primarily by an $8 million increase in compensation and employee benefits, reflecting higher commissions and incentive accruals, and a $6 million increase in other operating expense, primarily reflecting increases in legal expense, realized credit card fraud losses, and advertising.
• Amortization of tax credit and other investments was $5 million in the fourth quarter, down from $50 million in the third quarter, The decrease was due to the sale of a tax credit investment and timing of certain renewable energy tax credit investments that were not placed into service in the fourth quarter.
• The efficiency ratio was 44.4% in the fourth quarter, compared with 38.9% in the third quarter and the adjusted efficiency ratio⁶ was 33.1% in the fourth quarter, compared with 31.2% in the third quarter.

TAX RELATED ITEMS

Full year 2023 income tax expense was $299 million, and the effective tax rate was 20.5%, compared with income tax expense of $284 million and an effective tax rate of 20.1% for the full year of 2022. Fourth quarter 2023 income tax expense was $88 million, and the effective tax rate was 27.0%, compared with income tax expense of $66 million and 18.6% for the third quarter of 2023. The higher effective tax rate in the fourth quarter was mainly due to the sale of a tax credit investment and timing of certain renewable energy tax credit investments that were not placed into service in the fourth quarter.

ASSET QUALITY

As of December 31, 2023, the credit quality of our loan portfolio remained solid.

• The criticized loans ratio decreased 14 basis points quarter-over-quarter to 1.87% of loans held-for-investment (“HFI”) as of December 31, 2023, compared with 2.01% as of September 30, 2023. Criticized loans decreased $43 million, or 4%, quarter-over-quarter to $1.0 billion as of December 31, 2023. The special mention loans ratio decreased 18 basis points quarter-over-quarter to 0.77% of loans HFI as of December 31, 2023, compared with 0.95% as of September 30, 2023, and the classified loans ratio increased four basis points to 1.10%.
• The nonperforming assets ratio was 0.16% of total assets as of December 31, 2023, compared with 0.15% of total assets as of September 30, 2023. Nonperforming assets increased $10 million to $114 million as of December 31, 2023, from $104 million as of September 30, 2023.
• Fourth quarter 2023 net charge-offs were $20 million, or annualized 0.15% of average loans HFI, compared with $18 million, or annualized 0.14% of average loans HFI, for the third quarter of 2023.
• The allowance for loan losses increased to $669 million, or 1.28% of loans HFI, as of December 31, 2023, compared with $656 million, or 1.29% of loans HFI, as of September 30, 2023, primarily reflective of net loan growth.
• Fourth quarter 2023 provision for credit losses was $37 million, compared with $42 million in the third quarter of 2023.

CAPITAL STRENGTH

Capital levels for East West remained strong. The following table presents capital metrics as of December 31, 2023, September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

DIVIDEND PAYOUT AND CAPITAL ACTIONS

East West’s Board of Directors has declared first quarter 2024 dividends for the Company’s common stock. The common stock cash dividend of $0.55 per share is payable on February 15, 2024, to stockholders of record on February 2, 2024. This represents a 15% increase, or seven cents per share, to the quarterly common stock dividend, up from $0.48 per share previously. The new annual dividend equivalent is $2.20 per share, compared with $1.92 per share previously.

East West repurchased 1.5 million shares of common stock during the fourth quarter of 2023 for approximately $82 million. $172 million of East West’s share repurchase authorization remains available.

Conference Call

East West will host a conference call to discuss fourth quarter 2023 earnings with the public on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET. The public and investment community are invited to listen as management discusses fourth quarter 2023 results and operating developments.

• The following dial-in information is provided for participation in the conference call: calls within the U.S. – (877) 506-6399; calls within Canada – (855) 669-9657; international calls – (412) 902-6699.
• A presentation to accompany the earnings call will be available on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s website at www.eastwestbank.com/investors.
• A listen-only live broadcast of the call will also be available on the Investor Relations page of the Company’s website at www.eastwestbank.com/investors.
• Information to access a replay of the call will be available one hour after the call on the Investor Relations site at www.eastwestbank.com/investors.

About East West

East West provides financial services that help customers reach further and connect to new opportunities. East West Bancorp, Inc. is a public company (Nasdaq: “EWBC”) with total assets of $69.6 billion as of December 31, 2023. The Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the largest independent bank headquartered in Southern California, and operates over 120 locations in the United States and Asia. The Bank’s markets in the United States include California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Washington. For more information on East West, visit www.eastwestbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain matters set forth herein (including any exhibits hereto) contain “forward-looking statements” that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for such statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. East West Bancorp, Inc. (referred to herein on an unconsolidated basis as “East West” and on a consolidated basis as the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “EWBC”) may make forward-looking statements in other documents that it files with, or furnishes to, the United States (“U.S.”) Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and management may make forward-looking statements to analysts, investors, media members and others. Forward-looking statements are those that do not relate to historical facts and that are based on current assumptions, beliefs, estimates, expectations and projections, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements may relate to various matters, including the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance, business or industry, and usually can be identified by the use of forward-looking words, such as “anticipates,” “assumes,” “believes,” “can,” “continues,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intends,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “objective,” “plans,” “potential,” “projects,” “remains,” “should,” “target,” “trend,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions or variations thereof, and the negative thereof, but these terms are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as they are subject to risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described below. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind these risks and uncertainties, as well as any cautionary statements the Company may make.

There are various important factors that could cause future results to differ materially from historical performance and any forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences, include, but are not limited to: changes in the global economy, including an economic slowdown, capital or financial market disruption, supply chain disruption, level of inflation, interest rate environment, residential and commercial property prices, employment levels, rate of growth and general business conditions, which could result in, among other things, reduced demand for loans, reduced availability of funding or increased funding costs, declines in asset values and/or recognition of allowance for credit losses; changes in local, regional and global business, economic and political conditions and geopolitical events, such as political unrest, wars and acts of terrorism; the soundness of other financial institutions and the impacts related to or resulting from bank failures and other economic and industry volatility, including potential increased regulatory requirements, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance premiums and assessments, losses in the value of our investment portfolio, deposit withdrawals, or other adverse consequences of negative market perceptions of the banking industry or us; changes in laws or the regulatory environment, including regulatory reform initiatives and policies of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Federal Reserve”), the FDIC, the SEC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (“DFPI”) — Division of Financial Institutions, the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”), China’s National Administration of Financial Regulation (“NAFR”), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (“HKMA”), the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (“HKSFC”), and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”); changes and effects thereof in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including the ongoing trade, economic and political disputes between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China and the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve; changes in the commercial and consumer real estate markets; changes in consumer or commercial spending, savings and borrowing habits, and patterns and behaviors; the impact from changes to income tax laws and regulations, federal spending and economic stimulus programs; the impact of any future U.S. federal government shutdown and uncertainty regarding the U.S. federal government’s debt limit and credit rating; the Company’s ability to compete effectively against financial institutions and other entities, including as a result of emerging technologies; the success and timing of the Company’s business strategies; the Company’s ability to retain key officers and employees; the impact on the Company’s funding costs, net interest income and net interest margin from changes in key variable market interest rates, competition, regulatory requirements and the Company’s product mix; changes in the Company’s costs of operation, compliance and expansion; the Company’s ability to adopt and successfully integrate new initiatives or technologies into its business in a strategic manner; the impact of communications or technology disruption, failure in, or breach of, the Company’s operational or security systems or infrastructure, or those of third party vendors with which the Company does business, including as a result of cyber-attacks, and other similar matters which could result in, among other things, confidential proprietary, or personally identifiable information being disclosed or misused, and materially impact the Company’s ability to provide services to its clients; the adequacy of the Company’s risk management framework, disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting; future credit quality and performance, including the Company’s expectations regarding future credit losses and allowance levels; the impact of adverse changes to the Company’s credit ratings from major credit rating agencies; the impact of adverse judgments or settlements in litigation and other proceedings; the impact of political developments, pandemics, wars, civil unrest, terrorism or other hostilities that may disrupt or increase volatility in securities or otherwise affect business and economic conditions on the Company and its customers; heightened regulatory and governmental oversight and scrutiny of the Company’s business practices, including dealings with consumers; the impact of reputational risk from negative publicity, fines, penalties and other negative consequences from regulatory violations, legal actions and the Company’s interactions with business partners, counterparties, service providers and other third parties; the impact of regulatory investigations, regulatory agreements, supervisory criticisms, and enforcement actions; changes in accounting standards as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) or other regulatory agencies and their impact on the Company’s critical accounting policies and assumptions; the Company’s capital requirements and its ability to generate capital internally or raise capital on favorable terms; the impact on the Company’s liquidity due to changes in the Company’s ability to receive dividends from its subsidiaries; any strategic acquisitions or divestitures; changes in the equity and debt securities markets; fluctuations in the Company’s stock price; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the impact of increased focus on social, environmental and sustainability matters, which may affect the operations of the Company and its customers and the economy more broadly; and the impact of climate change, natural or man-made disasters or calamities, such as wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, flooding and earthquakes or other events that may directly or indirectly result in a negative impact on the financial performance of the Company and its customers.

For a more detailed discussion of some of the factors that might cause such differences, see the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 under the heading Item 1A. Risk Factors and the information set forth under Item 1A. Risk Factors in the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. You should treat forward-looking statements as speaking only as of the date they are made and based only on information then actually known to the Company. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of events or circumstances after the date of such statements except as required by law.