Hanmi Reports Second Quarter 2021 Results

2021 Second Quarter Highlights:

• Second quarter net income of $22.1 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, up from $16.7 million, or $0.54 per diluted share from the prior quarter and up from $9.2 million or $0.30 per diluted share for the same quarter a year ago.
• Loans receivable of $4.82 billion, were unchanged from the prior quarter; up 2.5% when excluding Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans. Strong production of $465.6 million was offset by payoffs/paydowns and forgiveness on first draw PPP loans.
• Deposits of $5.63 billion, up 2.2% from the first quarter driven by an 8.3% increase in noninterest-bearing demand deposits; cost of interest-bearing deposits fell 12 basis points from the prior quarter.
• A $3.3 million recovery of credit loss expense for the second quarter resulted in an allowance for credit losses of 1.73% of loans at June 30, 2021, or 1.78% excluding PPP loans.
• Nonaccrual loans declined 28.1% from the end of the first quarter principally from the return-to-accrual status of two film tax-credit loans aggregating $12.4 million; classified loans were down 25.3% from the prior quarter due to upgrades to special mention, payoffs and paydowns.
• Second quarter net interest income was $49.6 million, up 7.8% from the first quarter and included $2.7 million from PPP loans and $0.9 million of interest income from the return-to-accrual status of the two film tax-credit loans.
• Net interest margin was 3.19% for the second quarter, or 3.12% excluding interest from PPP loans.
• Second quarter noninterest income was $8.9 million, down 9.4% from the prior quarter as lower gains on sale of second-draw PPP loans was offset partially by higher gains on sale of non-PPP SBA 7(a) loans.
• Noninterest expense was $30.8 million, up 4.2% from the previous quarter, which included $1.4 million of cost capitalization on second-draw PPP loans; Efficiency ratio for the second quarter was 52.66% (52.86% excluding securities gains and second draw PPP loan gains and origination costs) compared with 52.92% for the prior quarter.
• Hanmi remained well capitalized with a Total risk-based capital ratio of 15.41% and a Common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 11.76% at June 30, 2021; tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio was 9.01% (9.23% excluding PPP loans) at the end of the second quarter.
  
  For more information about Hanmi, please see the Q2 2021 Investor Update (and Supplemental Financial Information), which is available on the Bank’s website at www.hanmi.com and via a current report on Form 8-K on the website of the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov. Also, please refer to “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” herein for further details of the presentation of certain non-GAAP financial measures.

LOS ANGELES, July 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HAFC, or “Hanmi”), the parent company of Hanmi Bank (the “Bank”), today reported net income for the 2021 second quarter of $22.1 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, compared with $16.7 million, or $0.54 per diluted share for the first quarter and $9.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share for the 2020 second quarter.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Hanmi’s record earnings in the second quarter were driven by excellent loan and lease production, solid growth in deposits and improving asset quality. New loan and lease production in the quarter increased to $465.6 million, up nearly 34% from the prior quarter. During the quarter we benefitted from significant lending activity from our new residential mortgage platform, along with growth in equipment leases, which returned to pre-pandemic levels. SBA loan production, excluding PPP loans, also expanded nicely quarter-over-quarter. The strong loan and lease production was partially offset by loan payoffs. Excluding PPP loans, loans receivable of $4.82 billion were up 2.5% from the prior quarter. Deposit gathering activities were also quite successful and were led by ongoing growth in low-cost noninterest-bearing demand deposits.”

Ms. Lee continued, “Overall, I remain pleased with our efforts to manage-down nonaccrual loans, which declined nearly 30% from the prior quarter. We also benefitted from a $3.3 million recovery of credit loss expense in the quarter. At the bottom line, net income grew significantly to $22.1 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, and was an all-time record.”

Ms. Lee concluded, “I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the entire Hanmi team for their hard work and dedication in helping our customers and communities through the health crisis over the past fifteen months. As the businesses in our key markets continue to re-open, activity has significantly increased resulting in a robust loan pipeline for Hanmi as we look ahead to the second half of 2021.”

Quarterly Highlights
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data) 

Results of Operations
Net interest income was $49.6 million for the second quarter of 2021 compared with $46.0 million for the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 7.8%, or $3.6 million. Second quarter interest and fees on loans receivable increased 4.3%, or $2.2 million, from the preceding quarter primarily due to a $1.7 million increase in interest income for PPP loans and interest income from the return-to-accrual status of the two film tax-credit loans. Total interest expense for the second quarter decreased $1.0 million from the preceding quarter driven by a 12 basis point reduction in the average rate paid on interest-bearing deposits. Second quarter loan prepayment penalties were $0.2 million compared with $0.3 million for the first quarter. 

The net interest margin was 3.19% for the second quarter of 2021, up 10 basis points from the prior quarter.

The yield on average earning assets was 3.51% for the second quarter of 2021 compared with 3.50% for the first quarter of 2021, as the benefit from higher interest income from PPP loans and the return-to-accrual of two film tax-credit loans was offset by higher balances of low-yield deposits in other banks.

The cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 0.57% for the second quarter of 2021 compared with 0.69% for the first quarter of 2021. The 12 basis point decline in the cost of interest-bearing deposits drove the lower cost of interest-bearing liabilities. The decline in the cost of interest-bearing deposits reflected the low interest rate environment and the changes in the composition of the deposit portfolio, as a $101.6 million, or 8.2%, decrease in time deposits was offset by increases in lower cost deposit accounts. 

For the second quarter of 2021, Hanmi recorded a $3.3 million recovery of credit loss expense, comprised of a $4.1 million recovery for loan losses and a $0.5 million reduction in the allowance for accrued interest receivable for current or previously modified loans, offset partially by a $1.3 million provision for off-balance sheet items. Credit loss expense for the first quarter of 2021 was $2.1 million, comprised of a $1.0 million provision for loan losses, a $2.1 million provision for an SBA guarantee repair loss, and a $1.0 million negative provision for losses on off-balance sheet items and accrued interest receivable for modified loans. At June 30, 2021, accrued interest receivable on current and former modified loans was $4.8 million compared with $6.4 million at March 31, 2021 and the related allowance for estimated losses was $0.7 million and $1.2 million at June 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021, respectively.

Second quarter 2021 noninterest income decreased to $8.9 million from $9.8 million for the first quarter of 2021, primarily due to a $2.3 million decrease in gains on the sale of second draw PPP loans, offset partially by an increase in gains on the sale of non-PPP 7(a) SBA loans. Gains on sales of non-PPP 7(a) SBA loans were $3.3 million for the second quarter of 2021, up from $1.7 million for the preceding quarter. The volume of non-PPP 7(a) SBA loans sold for the second quarter and previous quarter was $26.6 million and $18.1 million, respectively, while trade premiums were 12.55% and 10.66%, respectively. 

During the second quarter of 2021, noninterest expense increased 4.2% to $30.8 million from $29.5 million for the first quarter primarily due to a $1.5 million increase in salaries and employee benefits. The increase in salaries and benefits from the prior quarter reflects $1.4 million in capitalized costs from second draw PPP originations recorded in the first quarter, as well as higher incentive compensation expense. The efficiency ratio improved to 52.66% in the second quarter from 52.92% in the prior quarter. 

Hanmi recorded a provision for income taxes of $8.9 million for the second quarter of 2021, representing an effective tax rate of 28.6% compared with $7.5 million, representing an effective tax rate of 31.1% for the first quarter of 2021. The effective tax rate for the first six months of 2021 was 29.7% compared with 32.3% for the first six months of 2020.

Financial Position
Total assets were $6.58 billion at June 30, 2021, a 2.2% increase from $6.44 billion at March 31, 2021 driven by higher cash balances associated with the continued influx of additional customer noninterest-bearing deposits.

Loans receivable, before the allowance for credit losses, were $4.82 billion at June 30, 2021, unchanged from the prior quarter, or up 2.5% when excluding Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans. Loans held for sale representing the guaranteed portion of SBA 7(a) loans were $22.0 million at the end of the second quarter of 2021, compared with $10.9 million at the end of the first quarter of 2021. Loans held for sale also included $14.1 million in second draw PPP loans. 

Hanmi generated solid loan production during the second quarter. New loan production totaled $465.6 million at an average rate of 3.74% partially offset by $264.8 million of loans paid-off during the quarter at an average rate of 2.90%. Payoffs for the 2021 second and first quarters included $114.0 and $39.0 million of first-draw PPP loan forgiveness, respectively. 

Deposits totaled $5.63 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2021, compared with $5.51 billion at the end of the preceding quarter. Growth was primarily driven by an increase in noninterest-bearing demand deposits and to a lesser extent increases in interest-bearing demand deposits and money market and savings deposits, partially offset by a reduction in time deposits. Noninterest-bearing demand deposits now represent 41.8% of total deposits up from 35.8% in the year-ago period. At June 30, 2021, the loan-to-deposit ratio was 85.6% compared with 87.4% at the end of the previous quarter. 

At June 30, 2021, stockholders’ equity was $603.0 million, compared with $581.8 million at March 31, 2021. Tangible common stockholders’ equity was $591.5 million, or 9.01% of tangible assets, at June 30, 2021 compared with $570.3 million, or 8.87% of tangible assets at the end of the first quarter. The ratio of tangible common equity to tangible assets excluding the $158.1 million of first and second draw PPP loans was 9.23% at June 30, 2021. Tangible book value per share increased to $19.27 at June 30, 2021 from $18.59 at the end of the prior quarter.

Hanmi continues to be well capitalized for regulatory purposes, with a preliminary Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 12.17% and a Total risk-based capital ratio of 15.41 % at June 30, 2021, versus 12.26% and 15.54%, respectively, at the end of the first quarter of 2021. 

Asset Quality
Loans and leases 30 to 89 days past due and still accruing were 0.09% of loans and leases at the end of the second quarter of 2021, compared with 0.14% at the end of the first quarter.

Loans 90 days or more past due and still accruing were $12.4 million and represent two film tax-credit loans previously included in nonaccrual loans. These loans are well secured and in the process of collection. Subsequent to the end of the second quarter, the Company collected payments of $4.6 million, including accrued interest, representing the full payoff of one of these loans, and $5.4 million, representing the partial paydown of the other. The Company expects to collect the remaining amounts due on the second loan prior to the end of the third quarter.

Special mention loans were $121.8 million at the end of the second quarter compared with $96.1 million at March 31, 2021. The quarter-over-quarter change reflected upgrades from classified loans of $34.0 million and downgrades from pass loans of $15.5 million. Reductions of special mention loans during the quarter include $12.3 million of upgrades to pass and $9.0 million of downgrades to classified, as well as $2.5 million in payoffs/paydowns. The June 30, 2021 balance of special mention loans included $70.8 million of loans adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Classified loans were $110.1 million at June 30, 2021 compared with $147.4 million at the end of the first quarter. The quarter-over-quarter change reflected reductions due to upgrades to special mention of $34.0 million and payoffs/paydowns and net charge-offs of $14.1 million. Additions to classified loans, representing downgrades from pass and special mention, totaled $10.8 million. At June 30, 2021, classified loans included $63.3 million of loans adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nonperforming loans were $52.0 million at the end of the second quarter of 2021, or 1.08% of loans, compared with $55.1 million at the end of the first quarter, or 1.14% of the portfolio. The quarter-over-quarter change reflected additions of $1.8 million and reductions (comprising upgrades, payments, sales, and charge-offs) of $4.9 million. At June 30, 2021, nonperforming loans included $20.3 million of loans and leases adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nonperforming assets were $52.7 million at the end of the second quarter of 2021, or 0.80% of total assets, compared with $56.6 million, or 0.88% of assets, at the end of the prior quarter.

Loans modified under the CARES Act declined 38% to $72.3 million at June 30, 2021 from $116.4 million at March 31, 2021. Substantially all of these modified loans are making interest only or other reduced payments that are less than the contractually required amount. Of the modified loan portfolio, 50.7% were special mention and 17.6% were classified. In addition, 7.0% were on nonaccrual status at June 30, 2021.

Gross charge-offs for the second quarter of 2021 were $1.5 million compared with $3.5 million for the preceding quarter. Recoveries of previously charged-off loans for the second quarter of 2021 were $0.6 million compared with $0.5 million for the preceding quarter. As a result, there were net charge-offs of $0.9 million for the second quarter of 2021, compared with net charge-offs of $3.0 million for the preceding quarter. For the second quarter of 2021, net charge-offs represented 0.08% of average loans on an annualized basis compared with 0.25% of average loans for the first quarter on an annualized basis.

The allowance for credit losses was $83.4 million as of June 30, 2021 generating an allowance for credit losses to loans of 1.73 % (1.78% excluding the PPP loans) compared with 1.83% (1.94% excluding the PPP loans) at the end of the prior quarter. Although macroeconomic assumptions continue to improve, the risk factors associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Bank’s loan portfolio continue to be considered in establishing the allowance for credit losses. 

Corporate Developments
On April 29, 2021 Hanmi’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend on its common stock for the 2021 second quarter of $0.12 per share. The dividend was paid on May 27, 2021 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on May 10, 2021.

Conference Call
Management will host a conference call today, July 27, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET) to discuss these results. This call will also be broadcast live via the internet. Investment professionals and all current and prospective stockholders are invited to access the live call by dialing 1-877- 407-9039 before 2:00 p.m. PT, using access code HANMI. To listen to the call online, either live or archived, visit the Investor Relations page of Hanmi’s website at www.hanmi.com.

About Hanmi Financial Corporation
Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Hanmi Financial Corporation owns Hanmi Bank, which serves multi-ethnic communities through its network of 35 full-service branches and 9 loan production offices in California, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, Washington and Georgia. Hanmi Bank specializes in real estate, commercial, SBA and trade finance lending to small and middle market businesses. Additional information is available at www.hanmi.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are “forward–looking statements” for purposes of federal and state securities laws, including, but not limited to, statements about our anticipated future operating and financial performance, financial position and liquidity, business strategies, regulatory and competitive outlook, investment and expenditure plans, capital and financing needs and availability, plans and objectives of management for future operations, developments regarding our capital and strategic plans, and other similar forecasts and statements of expectation and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of such terms and other comparable terminology. Although we believe that our forward-looking statements to be reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include the following:

• a failure to maintain adequate levels of capital and liquidity to support our operations;
• the effect of potential future supervisory action against us or Hanmi Bank;
• our ability to remediate any material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting;
• general economic and business conditions internationally, nationally and in those areas in which we operate;
• volatility and deterioration in the credit and equity markets;
• changes in consumer spending, borrowing and savings habits;
• availability of capital from private and government sources;
• demographic changes;
• competition for loans and deposits and failure to attract or retain loans and deposits;
• fluctuations in interest rates and a decline in the level of our interest rate spread;
• risks of natural disasters;
• a failure in or breach of our operational or security systems or infrastructure, including cyberattacks;
• the failure to maintain current technologies;
• our inability to successfully implement future information technology enhancements;
• difficult business and economic conditions that can adversely affect our industry and business, including lack of soundness of other financial institutions, fraudulent activity and negative publicity;
• risks associated with Small Business Administration loans;
• failure to attract or retain key employees;
• our ability to access cost-effective funding;
• fluctuations in real estate values;
• changes in accounting policies and practices;
• changes in governmental regulation, including, but not limited to, any increase in FDIC insurance premiums;
• the ability of Hanmi Bank to make distributions to Hanmi Financial Corporation, which is restricted by certain factors, including Hanmi Bank’s retained earnings, net income, prior distributions made, and certain other financial tests;
• the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses;
• our credit quality and the effect of credit quality on our provision for loan losses and allowance for credit losses;
• the effect of our rating under the Community Reinvestment Act and our ability to address any issues raised in our regulatory exams;
• changes in the financial performance and/or condition of our borrowers and the ability of our borrowers to perform under the terms of their loans and other terms of credit agreements;
• our ability to control expenses;
• changes in securities markets; and
• risks as it relates to cyber security against our information technology and those of our third-party providers and vendors.

Further, given its ongoing and dynamic nature, it is difficult to predict the continuing impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our business. The extent of such impact will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain, including when the coronavirus can be controlled and abated and whether the continued reopening of businesses will result in a meaningful increase in economic activity. As the result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related adverse local and national economic consequences, we could be subject to any of the following risks, any of which could have a material, adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations:

• demand for our products and services may decline;
• if the economy is unable to substantially reopen, and higher levels of unemployment continue for an extended period of time, loan delinquencies, problem assets, and foreclosures may increase;
• collateral for loans, especially real estate, may decline in value, which could cause loan losses to increase;
• our allowance for credit losses may have to be increased if borrowers experience financial difficulties;
• a worsening of business and economic conditions or in the financial markets could result in an impairment of certain intangible assets, such as goodwill or our servicing assets;
• the net worth and liquidity of loan guarantors may decline, impairing their ability to honor commitments to us;
• a material decrease in net income or a net loss over several quarters could result in the elimination or a decrease in the rate of our quarterly cash dividend;
• litigation, regulatory enforcement risk and reputation risk regarding our participation in the Paycheck Protection Program and the risk that the Small Business Administration may not fund some or all PPP loan guaranties;
• our cyber security risks are increased as the result of an increase in the number of employees working remotely;
• FDIC premiums may increase if the agency experiences additional resolution costs; and
• the unanticipated loss or unavailability of key employees due to the outbreak, which could harm our ability to operate our business or execute our business strategy, especially as we may not be successful in finding and integrating suitable replacements.

In addition, we set forth certain risks in our reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K that we will file hereafter, which could cause actual results to differ from those projected. We undertake no obligation to update such forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Investor Contacts:
Romolo (Ron) Santarosa
Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
213-427-5636

Lasse Glassen
Investor Relations / Addo Investor Relations
310-829-5400

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