Earnings call transcript: Hanmi Financial beats Q4 2024 EPS forecast

Published 02/01/2025, 08:52 PM
Earnings call transcript: Hanmi Financial beats Q4 2024 EPS forecast

Overall, Hanmi Financial (NASDAQ:HAFC)'s strong Q4 2024 results and strategic initiatives have set a positive tone for 2025, with a focus on expanding its loan portfolio and maintaining robust financial performance. With a market capitalization of $720.59 million, an attractive 4.5% dividend yield, and a beta of 0.88 indicating lower volatility than the market, Hanmi presents an interesting profile for income-focused investors. InvestingPro subscribers can access detailed financial health scores and comprehensive analysis to make more informed investment decisions about HAFC and 1,400+ other stocks through our Pro Research Reports. With a market capitalization of $720.59 million, an attractive 4.5% dividend yield, and a beta of 0.88 indicating lower volatility than the market, Hanmi presents an interesting profile for income-focused investors. InvestingPro subscribers can access detailed financial health scores and comprehensive analysis to make more informed investment decisions about HAFC and 1,400+ other stocks through our Pro Research Reports.

Key Takeaways

  • EPS for Q4 2024 exceeded expectations by 13.7%.
  • Revenue slightly below forecast at $60.81 million.
  • Stock price increased by 6.56% in after-hours trading.
  • Strategic expansion in digital systems and international markets.
  • Projected low-to-mid single-digit loan growth in 2025.

Company Performance

Hanmi Financial demonstrated solid performance in 2024, reporting a net income of $62.2 million, or $2.05 per diluted share. The company increased its net interest margin to 2.91% and saw a 2.5% growth in deposits. The expansion of its Corporate Korea initiative and digital investments contributed to its robust performance.

Financial Highlights

  • Revenue: $60.81 million, slightly below the $61.44 million forecast.
  • EPS: $0.58, surpassing the $0.51 forecast.
  • Return on Average Assets: 0.83%.
  • Return on Average Equity: 7.97%.

Earnings vs. Forecast

Hanmi Financial's Q4 2024 EPS of $0.58 outperformed the forecast by 13.7%, marking a positive surprise for investors. However, revenue came in at $60.81 million, slightly under the expected $61.44 million, a minor shortfall that did not dampen investor enthusiasm.

Market Reaction

Following the earnings release, Hanmi's stock surged 6.56% in after-hours trading, closing at $24.54, up from $23.03. This movement indicates positive investor sentiment, likely driven by the company's EPS beat and strategic growth initiatives. The stock has demonstrated remarkable strength, delivering a 54.44% return over the past year and trading at a modest P/E ratio of 11.48. InvestingPro analysis indicates the stock is currently trading slightly above its Fair Value. For deeper insights into Hanmi's valuation and 7 additional exclusive ProTips, subscribers can access the comprehensive Pro Research Report.

Outlook & Guidance

Looking ahead to 2025, Hanmi Financial projects low-to-mid single-digit loan growth. The company plans to expand its commercial and industrial (C&I) portfolio while reducing its commercial real estate exposure. Additionally, Hanmi aims to continue optimizing its branch network and maintaining high credit quality.

Executive Commentary

CEO Bonnie Lee expressed confidence in Hanmi's strategic direction, stating, "We are well positioned to drive growth and deliver value to our shareholders in 2025 and beyond." Lee emphasized the company's relationship-driven banking model as a key advantage in achieving sustainable growth.

Risks and Challenges

  • Intense competition for deposits could pressure margins.
  • Economic uncertainties may impact loan growth and credit quality.
  • Regulatory changes could affect operations and profitability.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts focused on deposit competition and the repricing of certificates of deposit (CDs). Hanmi plans to reprice $770 million in CDs from 4.70% to 4.02% in Q1 2025. The company's SBA (LON:SBA) loan portfolio, valued at approximately $250 million, continues to perform well, supported by a focus on past performance.

Overall, Hanmi Financial's strong Q4 2024 results and strategic initiatives have set a positive tone for 2025, with a focus on expanding its loan portfolio and maintaining robust financial performance.

Full transcript - Hanmi Financial Corporation (HAFC) Q4 2024:

Matt, Conference Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Omni Financial Corporation's 4th Quarter and Full Year 2024 Conference Call.

Ben Brockowitz, Investor Relations, Hanmi Financial Corporation: As a reminder, today's call

Matt, Conference Operator: is being recorded for replay purposes.

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: At this time, all participants are in

Matt, Conference Operator: a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. I'd now like to turn the conference over to Ben Brockowitz, Investor Relations for the company. Please go ahead.

Ben Brockowitz, Investor Relations, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you, Matt, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss Omni's Q4 and full year 2024 results. This afternoon, Homni issued its earnings release and quarterly supplemental slide presentation to accompany today's call. Both documents are available in the IR section of the company's website at homni.com. I'm here today with Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer of Omni Financial Corporation Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer and Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer. Bonnie will begin today's call with an overview, Anthony will discuss loan and deposit activities, Ron will provide details on our financial performance, and then Bonnie will provide closing comments before we open the call up for your questions.

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that today's comments may include forward looking statements under the federal securities laws. Forward looking statements are based on current plans, expectations, events and financial industry trends that may affect the company's future operating results and financial position. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by our forward looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. Discussion of the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those from these forward looking statements can be found in our SEC filings, including our reports on Form 10 ks and 10 Q. In particular, we direct you to the discussion of certain risk factors affecting our business contained in our earnings release, our investor presentation and in our Form 10 Q.

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Bonnie Lee. Bonnie, please go ahead.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you, Ben. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss our Q4 and full year 2024 results. Before we begin, I want to address the devastating fires in the Los Angeles area that began earlier this month. As you know, Los Angeles has been Hammy's home for over 40 years, and we are deeply saddened by these events and their profound impact on our community.

We have been in close contact with our team members and customers. I am pleased to report that fortunately, there has been no direct impact to our employees' homes nor significant collateral loss or business interruption to our commercial customers. We want to thank the firefighters, first responders and volunteers who have been instrumental in helping those affected. We know the road to the recovery will be a long one and Hanmi stands by as a trusted resource to provide assistance as the situation continues to evolve. Now turning to our results.

Strong operational execution by our team in the Q4 resulted in a successful close to 2024 and provided a solid foundation for continued momentum in 2025. Throughout 2024, we focused on managing the factors within our control as we navigated constantly evolving and dynamic market environment. We continue to execute our strategy, leveraging our proven relationship banking model to further grow and diversify our customer base and loan portfolio. We maintained a sharp focus and prudent credit administration and disciplined expense management, and we made meaningful progress in advancing our corporate career initiative. Now let me review some highlights of the past year.

Net income for 2024 reached $62,200,000 or $2.05 per diluted share. Our return on average assets were 0.83 percent and return on average equity was at 7.97%. We made significant strides in diversifying our loan portfolio and the party franchise. In line with our diversification strategy, we increased our C and I portfolio by 16%, driven by strong contribution from our U. S.

KC initiative as well as the acquisition of new relationships throughout our network. We also closely manage our commercial real estate exposure in line with our ongoing efforts to reduce the CRE as a percentage of our portfolio over time. Importantly, growth in our C and I portfolio contributed to the increase in non interest bearing demand deposits, which I'll come back to in a moment. We sold $88,400,000 in residential mortgage loans into the secondary market throughout the year, generating $1,500,000 of non interest income, while also strengthening our balance sheet. Deposits grew by 2.5% in 2024, driven by a 4.6% increase in non interest bearing deposits, which now account for 32.6% of total deposits.

This strong performance reflects our success in building and nurturing lasting relationships with our customers who rely on us to provide the quality banking products and services they need. In today's highly competitive banking space, our ability to cultivate holistic customer relationship is an important advantage. As I have highlighted in the past, our Corporate Korea or U. S. KC initiative is one of our core growth strategies.

Through this initiative, our dedicated bankers build relationships with the U. S. Domiciled subsidiaries of the Korean companies, providing them with the banking advice, lines of credit, real estate investment loans, asset based loans and other services. We currently serve businesses in a wide range of industries, including real estate, auto part manufacturing, hospitality, energy and more. In 2024, we grew our U.

S. KC loan portfolio by 23% and it now represents 15% of our total loan portfolio, up from 12.3% last year. In addition, as I previewed last quarter, we opened a representative office in Seoul, South Korea, which marks a key milestone for Hanmi. Through this office, we will enhance our communication and support for our customers and expand outreach to companies looking into the U. S.

Market. This office complements our existing Korea desks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Silicon Valley and other key cities in New York, New Jersey, Georgia and Texas. Based on the success of our U. S. KC initiative, we will continue to pursue opportunities expand into additional target markets.

As we diversified and grew our loan portfolio, we maintain our firm commitment to asset quality. Our asset quality remains excellent, reflecting our focus on high quality loans, disciplined underwriting and vigilant credit administration. Additionally, non performing assets as a percentage of total assets improved to 0.19% and allowance for credit losses remained healthy at 1.12%. In addition to maintaining strong asset quality, we focused on enhancing efficiencies and driving growth and profitability. We made meaningful progress in optimizing our branch network, our strategic initiative to evaluate consolidation, relocation and growth opportunities.

In 2024, we consolidated 3 branches, 1 in California, 2 in Texas. These actions contributed to loan and deposit growth and also result in cost savings. Non interest expenses rose modestly, just 3.5% for the year as we offset some of the inflationary pressure on salaries and employee benefits with the cost savings in other categories. In 2024, we made investments in digital systems, including a new loan origination system and online account opening system. We expect that these investments will drive operational efficiencies and improve profitability over time.

We continue to retain and attract top talent across the company. Despite a highly competitive market, our employee retention remains strong and we make key hires across business lines. I attribute our success in attracting and retaining diverse talent to our strong corporate culture and values, which are grounded in integrity, transparency, fairness and collaboration. These attributes have established Hanmi as a bank employer of choice. Finally, our strong financial and capital position allowed us to invest in growth while continuing to reward our shareholders.

I am pleased to report that our Board approved an 8% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.27 per share for our next dividend payment in February. This increase underscores our confidence in our growth strategy and our commitment to delivering shareholder value. As we look ahead to 2025, we are focused on executing our growth strategy and building upon the momentum we created in 2024. Our top priorities include generating lowtomidsingledigit loan growth with a focus on further expanding our C and I exposure while reducing CRE as a percentage of the portfolio, continuing to sell residential mortgage and SBA loans in the secondary market to strengthen the balance sheet hiring additional bankers to expand our C and I business with experience in target verticals and increase our core deposit growth maintaining our disciplined credit administration practices and excellent exit quality and last, advancing our branch optimization efforts, including the recent closure of a Koreatown Plaza branch in Los Angeles and the opening of a new branch in the Greater Atlanta region in the near future. In summary, we are well positioned to drive growth and deliver value to our shareholders in 2025 and beyond.

With our relationship driven banking model and strategic initiatives including Corporate Korea, small business lending and branch optimization, we remain confident that we can deliver sustainable growth by providing excellent products and services to our customers and communities. I'll now turn the call over to Anthony Kim, our Chief Banking Officer, to discuss 4th quarter loan production and deposit gathering in more detail. Anthony?

Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you, Bonnie, and thank you for joining us today. I'll begin by providing additional details on our loan production. 4th quarter loan production was $339,000,000 down $9,000,000 or 2.5 percent from the 3rd quarter with a weighted average interest rate of 7.37 percent compared to 7.92% last quarter. We remain disciplined in our underwriting practices as we seek opportunities that meet our high quality standards in the current rate environment. CRA production was $147,000,000 up from $110,000,000 in the 3rd quarter, due mainly to increased production in the industrial sector.

We continue to be pleased with the quality of our CRE portfolio. It has a weighted average loan to value ratio of approximately 48% and a weighted average debt service coverage ratio of 2.2x. SBA loan production decreased $2,000,000 in the 4th quarter to $50,000,000 from $52,000,000 in the 3rd quarter. However, it still exceeded our quarterly target range of $40,000,000 to $45,000,000 The key hires we made to our SBA team have helped us to achieve these consistent production levels and to continue generating growth in small businesses in our markets, Further illustrating our success in C and I lending, commitments for our commercial lines of credit were $1,180,000,000 in the 4th quarter and were up 9.3% year over year. Outstanding balances increased by 27.3 percent to $504,000,000 and utilization improved to 43% from 37% compared to last year.

C and I production during the Q4 was $60,000,000 a decrease of $45,000,000 or 43 percent from the prior quarter, which was particularly high. For the full year, C and I production increased 50% to $275,000,000 dollars Residential mortgage loan production was $40,000,000 for the Q4. Most of our current lending opportunities continue to be in the purchase market as refinance activity remains subdued. Residential mortgage loans represented 15% of our total portfolio, essentially the same as 1 year ago. During the Q4, we sold approximately $18,000,000 of residential mortgages from our portfolio and are currently exploring additional portfolio sales contingent on market conditions.

With respect to Corporate Korea, once again, we saw a healthy demand from these customers who accounted for $91,000,000 of total loan production. Our efforts to expand and grow these relationships are continuing to bear fruit. U. S. KCL loan balances were $937,000,000 up $19,000,000 or 2% from the 3rd quarter and represent 15% of our total loan portfolio.

Loan production for the full year was commendable in the context of uncertain environment. However, higher payouts in 20 24, which increased 17% year over year, resulted in a modest increase in our loan portfolio. Next (LON:NXT), I'll discuss deposits. In the 4th quarter, deposits were up 0.5% from the previous quarter, although our demand deposit accounts grew 2.2% or 8.8% annualized. We continue to expand our partnership base with our corporate credit clients, whose deposits increased 1.1 percent or to $25,000,000 in the quarter.

Our team is making progress building new relationships that we believe have the potential for long term growth. At quarter end, corporate Korea deposit represented 13% of our total deposits and 16% of our total demand deposits. The competition of our deposit base ring is relatively stable, which reflects the success of our relationship driven banking model. During the Q4, our mix of non interest bearing deposits increased from 32% to 33%. And now I'll hand the call over to Ram Santarosa, our Chief Financial Officer, for more details on our Q4 financial results.

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you, Anthony, and good afternoon, all. For the Q4, our net interest income increased 6.8 percent to $53,400,000 and our net interest margin increased 17 basis points to 2.91%. The growth in our net interest income and our net interest margin was principally due to the decline in the average rate paid on interest bearing deposits, which was 3.96%, down 31 basis points from 4.27 percent for the prior quarter. The 2.2% growth in non interest bearing deposits contributed favorably to the increase in net interest margin. Average loans as well as the average loan yield for the Q4 was largely unchanged from the Q3.

The Fed lowered the federal funds rate twice during the Q4 for a total of 50 basis points. We followed suit by lowering the rates offered on our savings and money market accounts as well as our rates on new time certificates of deposit. For December, the average rate paid on interest bearing deposits was 3.83%, down 12 basis points from November. Looking at January to date, the average rate paid on interest bearing deposits was down 25 basis points from the 4th quarter average of 3.96%. Turning to our non interest income, we posted revenues of $7,400,000 for the 4th quarter, down $1,100,000 from the 3rd quarter.

This decline reflects an elevated level of non interest income in the 3rd quarter, primarily due to the $900,000 gain from the sale and leaseback of the branch property. Gains from sales of SBA loans were $1,400,000 with trade premiums of 8.53 percent similar to the 3rd quarter on slightly lower sales. Gains on sales of residential mortgages continued for the 4th consecutive quarter and were consistent with the 3rd quarter, although the premiums declined. Non interest expenses were $34,500,000 for the 4th quarter, down 1.6% from the previous quarter, reflecting a $1,600,000 gain on the sale of an OREO property. Absent this gain, non interest expenses were up 3.1% due to seasonally higher advertising and promotion activities and higher legal fees, both from collections and business activities.

In addition, other operating expenses included a $500,000 charge for a guarantee repair allowance on a previously acquired SBA loan, while the Q3 included a $300,000 reimbursement from a borrower for delinquent property taxes. Our pre tax pre provision income for the Q4 jumped 12.2% from the 3rd quarter from notable growth in our net interest revenues and well managed non interest expenses. Credit loss expense for the Q4 was $900,000 effectively representing the entirety of our provision for loan losses as the provision for off balance sheet items was nil again this quarter. Turning to the allowance for credit losses, we had net loan recoveries of $129,000 for the 4th quarter. When combined with the provision increased the allowance to $70,100,000 or 1.12 percent of loans.

The increase in the allowance from the 3rd quarter reflects an increase in specific allowances, while the allowance for qualitative and quantitative considerations remained largely unchanged. Turning to equity capital, our negative AOCI increased $15,400,000 quarter over quarter due to higher interest rates at the end of the 4th quarter. The company repurchased 24,500 shares during the quarter at an average rate of $22.91 1,230,500 shares remain under the share repurchase program. Tangible book value per share was $23.88 at the end of 2024 and our tangible equity to tangible asset ratio was 9.41%. The company's preliminary common Tier 1 ratio was 12.11%, and the bank's preliminary total capital ratio was 14.43%.

Both the company and the bank exceeded minimum regulatory capital ratios and the bank exceeded the minimum ratios for the well capitalized category. With that, I'm going to turn it back to Bonnie.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you, Ron. As I mentioned, for many years now, we have consistently demonstrated our ability to navigate dynamic market conditions by staying focused on executing our relationship driven banking strategy. Looking ahead, our priorities include expanding our core deposit base, targeting deposit rich business verticals and entering new markets. I want to express my gratitude to the entire Hanmi team for their exceptional efforts over the past year and their dedication to supporting our customers and our communities. We are excited about the opportunities ahead to provide our customers with a personalized relationship based banking service and products to help them achieve their financial goals, while also delivering value to our shareholders.

Thank you. We'll now open the call for questions. Operator, please open the line up to questions.

Matt, Conference Operator: Thank you. We'll now be conducting a question and answer session. First question is from Kelly Motta from KBW. Please go ahead.

Charlie, Analyst, KBW: Hi, this is Charlie on for Kelly Motta. Thanks for the question. Deposit competition has been intense among your peers and your margin came in nicely. How's the competitive landscape for deposits looking and maybe expectations for that landscape and general deposit repricing trends into 2025? Thanks.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: So within our space, deposit competition has been always fierce. Having said that though, we try to within our marketplace not to be really the pricing leader. We base our whole strategy on the relationship banking model, right? So and we don't necessarily have to open up or offer up the highest rates in the marketplace and that has been our continued practice.

Charlie, Analyst, KBW: Thank you. And I guess sticking with deposits, you guys saw a benefit from repricing CDs lower this quarter. Just wondering if you could give us what the rate is for those CDs rolling off versus coming on?

Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Yes. For this quarter, being Q1 of 2025, have a total of about $770,000,000 rolling off at 4.70%. In last quarter, we a little less than $1,000,000,000 rolled off at 5.04%. We were able to reprice it at 4.02%. So we have plenty of room to reprice down.

Charlie, Analyst, KBW: Thank you. That's great. And then switching to asset quality, your credit quality is solid, but SBA is something people are watching. Are you seeing anything on the SBA side? And I missed it in your prepared remarks, but remind us what your overall exposure to SBA is in the portfolio?

Thank you.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Yes. I mean, our SBA portfolio has been consistently performing really well.

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: And I gave you the best numbers. So we have approximately

Matt, Conference Operator: 100

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: and I'm sorry, it's wrong page here. Yes.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Yes. So we actually have about $250,000,000 of SBA exposure. And from the $250,000,000 about $116,000,000 $170,000,000 is tied to the real estate.

Charlie, Analyst, KBW: Awesome. Thank you, guys. I'll step back.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you.

Matt, Conference Operator: Our next question is from Matthew Clark from Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Matthew Clark, Analyst, Piper Sandler: Hey, thank you. Just a follow-up on the SBA discussion. Can you just give us a sense for your credit box in that business and why you think your portfolio is holding up better than some others that we've seen?

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Yes. I've been asked this question a number of times and I think I provided the same response. There are a lot of SBA lenders that produce SBA loans based on projected cash flow. And versus I think that we emphasize on the past performance as well as the trends past trends. So I think that's probably the one of the differentiator.

And also, we within the SBA business, there are a lot of SBA lenders that deals with SBA brokers. And most of our deals, we'd like to focus on driving that from our footprint and our loan production offices versus the brokers.

Matthew Clark, Analyst, Piper Sandler: Great. And then just on your loan yield being pretty resilient given the rate cuts, anything unusual in that 5.97% loan yield? And if not, can you just remind us how much you have in kind of truly floating loans?

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Sure. So Matt, our floaters are fairly small relative to the portfolio. Think about like 10% or less. And then we do have a cadre of adjustable rate loans, which are basically the SBA product, which reprice quarterly based on the prime. And then a cadre of adjustables in residential, which are your mix of 31s, 5171s.

And then we have the smaller CRE loans, which are typically fixed for 5 years and then will flow for the remaining 2 of their lives. So that blend keeps the rate fairly stable. We tried to illustrate that for you on Page 19 of the accompanying slides where we trend the trend line for the loan yield portfolio relative to the change in the Fed funds and then relative to our other changes in our cost of interest bearing deposits. So there's some staying power in that loan yield as we'll continue to get the benefit of declining interest bearing deposit costs.

Matthew Clark, Analyst, Piper Sandler: Great. And then just back to the CD repricing, how much do you have coming due in the Q2 as well? And at what rate?

Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: 2nd quarter, we have another $685,000,000 at 4.42%.

Matthew Clark, Analyst, Piper Sandler: Okay, great. And then lastly, just on the expense run rate, assuming we add back the OREO recovery, what are your thoughts on the run rate and going into 1Q and kind of expense growth in general for the year?

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: So broadly, our expenses have been basically been moving with inflation. When you get to quarterly analysis, you'll start to see the seasonality in advertising and promotions, so they'll drop off in the Q1. You'll see merits come in. They happen in the Q2. So aside from, well, you would just seasonality type of ideas, you should just see them generally move with the general level of inflation.

Matthew Clark, Analyst, Piper Sandler: Okay, great. Thank you.

Matt, Conference Operator: Next question is from Gary Tenner from D. A. Davidson. Please go ahead.

Amit Hassan, Analyst, D.A. Davidson: Hey, guys. I'm Amit Hassan on for Gary Tenner. So loan production was essentially flat this quarter. What are you seeing there? Is that seasonality?

And how should we think about loan growth in the Q1 of the year? Would like the mid single or low to mid single digit loan growth you guys guided to, would that be back half weighted?

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: So for considering the environment, our overall production was pretty solid and it's a similar trend as the prior quarter, 3rd quarter. When we account for year over year, we didn't notice, as we mentioned in our comments, that this year we had the payoffs for the annual payoffs compared to the prior year, it went up 17%. So and then payoffs are something that's not within our control. So it's not so much about the production, but I think that where the payoffs going to end again this year, that we'll know what kind of net loan growth, but we are projecting lowtomidsingledigitgrowth

Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: for the year.

Amit Hassan, Analyst, D.A. Davidson: All right. That makes a lot more sense. And should we expect deposit growth next year to match loan growth essentially?

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: It will be a similar trend.

Amit Hassan, Analyst, D.A. Davidson: Okay. And then on the capital front, you guys mentioned it in the prepared remarks, you guys did some repurchases this quarter. How should we model further repurchases? Should it be a similar trend or more opportunistic depending on the share prices?

Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Yes. I would say it really depends on how the markets are performing in any particular quarter and what advantages that might present to us.

Amit Hassan, Analyst, D.A. Davidson: Sounds good. Thank you for taking my questions.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you.

Matt, Conference Operator: Our next question is from Matthew Ertner from JonesTrading. Please go ahead.

Matthew Ertner, Analyst, JonesTrading: Hey guys, thanks for taking the questions. Just a couple of quick ones for me. Loan sales, it looks like you guys had the most you've sold in some time. Can you talk about just the opportunity there? Where you're seeing the gain of sale margins and kind of the expected pace that you're thinking for the next year in terms of loan sales?

Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Well, it's all dependent on the market condition. But in 2024, we were able to sell a total of $88,400,000 either to investor or other community banks. The premium ranges from 2% to 2 point 3 percent to 2.4 percent ish percent. So we continue to explore the opportunity to sell similar level of sales in 2025. Got

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: it. Thank

Ben Brockowitz, Investor Relations, Hanmi Financial Corporation: you.

Matt, Conference Operator: If there are no further questions, I'd like to turn the floor back to management for any closing comments.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, Hanmi Financial Corporation: Thank you for joining our call today. We appreciate your interest at Hammin and look forward to sharing our continued progress with you throughout the year. Thank you.

Matt, Conference Operator: This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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