EXHIBIT 99.1

Hanmi’s Strong Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2015 Results Led by Solid New Loan Production and 14.2% Growth in Loans Receivable

2015 Fourth Quarter and Full Year Highlights:   

• Fourth quarter net income of $14.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted share; full year net income of $53.8 million, or $1.68 per diluted share.
• Fourth quarter loans receivable up 4.5%, or $138.2 million, from the third quarter and up 14.2% from a year ago.
• Fourth quarter new loan production of $268.5 million up 31.4% from a year ago; full year new loan production of $917.5 million, up 49.2% from prior year.
• Noninterest bearing deposits up 3.7% from the third quarter and 13.0% from a year ago and represent 32.9% of deposits.
• Fourth quarter net interest margin, excluding acquisition accounting, expanded to 3.62% compared with 3.48% for the third quarter and 3.24% for the year-ago period.
• Asset quality continues to be strong with non-performing assets at 0.65% of total assets; recorded a negative provision for loan losses of $3.8 million for the fourth quarter and $11.6 million for the full year.
  
  

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:HAFC) (or “Hanmi”), the holding company for Hanmi Bank (the “Bank”), today reported fourth quarter net income of $14.8 million, or $0.46 per diluted share, compared with $14.0 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, for the prior quarter and $5.9 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2014.

For the full year of 2015, net income was $53.8 million, or $1.68 per diluted share, up 40.2% from the prior year after adjusting for the bargain purchase gain and merger and integration costs recorded primarily in conjunction with the August 31, 2014 acquisition of Central Bancorp, Inc. (“CBI”), the parent company of United Central Bank. Net income for the full year of 2014 was $49.8 million, or $1.56 per diluted share. The prior year included an after-tax bargain purchase gain of $14.6 million, with pre-tax merger and integration costs of $6.6 million in 2014 and $2.0 million in 2015.

Mr. C. G. Kum, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Hanmi’s fourth quarter results were excellent and contributed to a strong year of profitable growth in 2015. For the full year, new loan production was up 49%, which led to a 14% growth in loans receivable. We continue to emphasize disciplined underwriting standards and credit quality remains very strong.  In addition, the successful repositioning of our balance sheet since the CBI acquisition has improved the mix of earning assets.  This helped to expand fourth quarter net interest margin, excluding acquisition accounting, to 3.62% or 14 basis points higher than the prior quarter and is an impressive accomplishment in the current environment. Furthermore, our ongoing focus on relationship-driven, high-touch business banking is driving our low cost deposit base with higher demand deposits.”

Mr. Kum continued, “Hanmi’s commitment to improving efficiencies and enhancing profitability pushed net income to $14.8 million in the fourth quarter and $53.8 million for the full year in 2015, an increase of 40% compared to the prior year after excluding the impact of merger and integration costs and accounting adjustments associated primarily with the CBI acquisition. Given our strong financial results in 2015, the Board of Directors increased the quarterly cash dividend in the fourth quarter by 27% to $0.14 per share. Overall, I am very pleased with our performance in 2015 and I believe Hanmi is well-positioned to continue generating profitable growth and capitalizing on market dislocation in the quarters and years ahead.”

Results of Operations 

Fourth quarter net interest income increased $1.6 million or 4.4% to $37.6 million from $36.0 million in the third quarter primarily from the solid expansion of loans receivable and the related improvement in the mix of earning assets. On a year-over-year basis, net interest income was up from $37.4 million in the fourth quarter last year. Net interest income of $148.1 million for the full year in 2015 increased 20.7% compared with $122.7 million for the full year in 2014.  The year-over-year improvement in net interest income reflects the 20.3% growth in average interest-earning assets. 

Net interest margin (on a taxable equivalent basis) for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 3.93% compared with 3.81% for the third quarter of 2015 and 3.80% for the year-ago period.  The increase in net interest margin for the fourth quarter compared with the preceding quarter was primarily due to loan growth and the related change in the mix of earning assets. For the full year of 2015, net interest margin was 3.90% compared with 3.88% for the full year of 2014.

For the fourth quarter of 2015, Hanmi recorded a negative provision for loan losses of $3.8 million, which included a $2.3 million provision for losses on PCI loans. For the prior quarter, the negative provision for loan losses was $3.7 million, which also included a $1.8 million provision for losses on PCI loans.  For the year ago period, Hanmi recorded a provision for loan losses of $1.2 million, which included a $1.0 million provision for losses on PCI loans.

Hanmi recorded a negative loan loss provision of $11.6 million for the full year of 2015, which included a $4.4 million provision for losses on PCI loans, compared with a negative loan loss provision of $6.3 million for the full year of 2014, which included a $1.0 million provision for losses on PCI loans.

The impact of the CBI acquisition accounting adjustments on core loan yield, core deposit cost, net interest income and net interest margin are summarized in the following tables. 

Fourth quarter noninterest income decreased $1.5 million or 11.1% to $12.1 million from $13.6 million for the third quarter of 2015 primarily due to a $2.2 million decrease in disposition gains on PCI loans and $1.6 million decrease in gain on sales of securities, which more than offset a $2.3 million increase in gain on sale of SBA loans.  Noninterest income increased $3.1 million or 34.2% from $9.0 million for the year ago period primarily because of a $2.6 million increase in gains on sale of SBA loans and a $0.7 million increase in disposition gains on PCI loans.  Gains on sales of SBA loans were $3.9 million for the fourth quarter 2015, up from $1.6 million from the third quarter of 2015 and up from $1.2 million from the year-ago period.  Gain on sales of securities were $467,000 for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with $2.0 million for the third quarter of 2015 and $159,000 for the fourth quarter last year. Disposition gains on PCI loans were $2.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared with $4.3 million for the prior quarter, and $1.4 million for the fourth quarter last year. PCI loans were $20.0 million at the end of 2015, down 55.0% from a year ago.

Noninterest expense for the fourth quarter decreased $536,000, or 1.9%, to $28.2 million from $28.7 million for the preceding quarter as savings from the 2015 third quarter branch consolidations were partially offset by an increase in other operating expenses that were related to a change in the provision for off-balance sheet commitments and a change in the valuation allowances related to acquired SBA loan servicing, along with higher merger and integration costs related to Hanmi’s pursuit of a potential acquisition during the fourth quarter.  Noninterest expense decreased $8.7 million, or 23.6%, from $36.9 million in the fourth quarter last year primarily due to merger and integrations costs and professional fees in the prior year period related to the acquisition of CBI.  As a result of the decrease in noninterest expense, coupled with the improvements in revenue from the growth in earning assets, the efficiency ratio excluding merger and integration costs, improved to 56.33% in the fourth quarter from 57.97% in the prior quarter and 73.01% in the year-ago period.

Salaries and employee benefit costs in the fourth quarter of 2015 decreased 7.8% to $14.8 million compared with $16.1 million for the third quarter of 2015, and decreased 11.6% from $16.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, primarily due to the branch consolidations completed in the first and third quarters of 2015. Occupancy and equipment costs decreased 19.4% to $3.9 million compared with $4.9 million for the third quarter of 2015 and decreased 8.8% from $4.3 million in the prior year period primarily related to the branch consolidations.  Professional fees were $1.9 million for the fourth quarter, unchanged from the preceding quarter, and decreased 59.8% from $4.8 million in the prior year period. The year over year decrease was primarily related to higher professional fees in the prior year period associated with the acquisition of CBI. Advertising and promotion expense for the fourth quarter of $1.3 million were unchanged from both the previous quarter and the fourth quarter last year. Other operating expenses were $3.9 million for the fourth quarter, up 94.9% from $2.0 million in the prior quarter and up 40.9% from $2.7 million in the prior year period. The sequential quarter increase in other operating expenses was primarily due to a $0.8 million change in the provision for off-balance sheet commitments and a $0.9 million change in the valuation allowances related to acquired SBA loan servicing.

Hanmi recorded a provision for income taxes of $10.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, representing an effective tax rate of 41.4%, compared with $10.6 million, representing an effective tax rate of 43.1%, for the preceding quarter and $2.3 million, representing an effective rate of 28.0% for the fourth quarter of 2014. For the full year ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, Hanmi recorded a provision for income taxes of $38.2 million and $22.9 million, respectively, representing effective tax rates of 41.5% and 31.5%, respectively.  The year over year increase was due primarily to the $14.6 million after-tax bargain purchase gain recognized in 2014.

Financial Position
Total assets were $4.23 billion at December 31, 2015, a 0.5% increase from $4.21 billion at September 30, 2015 and unchanged from a year ago.  The sequential quarter increase in total assets was primarily due to an increase in loans receivable.

Loans receivable, before the allowance for loan losses, were $3.18 billion at December 31, 2015, up 4.5% from $3.05 billion at September 30, 2015 and up 14.2% from $2.79 billion at December 31, 2014.  The increase in loans from the end of the 2014 fourth quarter reflects Hanmi’s strong loan production throughout 2015.  Loans held for sale, representing the guaranteed portion of SBA loans, were $2.9 million at December 31, 2015 compared with $4.9 million at the end of the 2015 third quarter and $5.5 million at the end of the 2014 fourth quarter. 

New loan production for the 2015 fourth quarter was $268.5 million, 31.4% higher than the fourth quarter last year and outpaced $171.8 million of loan payoffs.  Fourth quarter 2015 new loan production was comprised of $199.5 million of commercial real estate loans, $39.6 million of commercial and industrial loans, $27.4 million of SBA loans, and $2.1 million of consumer loans.  For the 2015 third quarter, new loan production was $306.0 million while loan payoffs were $105.7 million.  Loan purchases for the 2015 fourth quarter were $114.7 million, compared with $36.2 million in the third quarter of 2015. SBA loan sales for the 2015 fourth quarter were $29.3 million, compared with $20.6 million for the third quarter of 2015.

Deposits were $3.51 billion at the end of the 2015 fourth quarter, compared with $3.52 billion at the end of the preceding quarter and $3.56 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2014.  The cost of deposits was 0.45% for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with 0.44% for the third quarter of 2015 and 0.43% for the fourth quarter a year ago.

At December 31, 2015, stockholders’ equity was $493.9 million, compared with $485.4 million and $453.4 million at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively.  Tangible common stockholders’ equity was $492.2 million, or 11.63% of tangible assets, compared with $483.7 million, or 11.48% of tangible assets, and $451.3 million, or 10.67%, of tangible assets, at September 30, 2015 and December 31, 2014, respectively.  Tangible book value per share was $15.39, up 8.8% from a year ago and 1.8% from the preceding quarter. 

During the quarter, Hanmi declared a cash dividend on its common stock for the 2015 fourth quarter of $0.14 per share, up 27.3% from $0.11 per share in the prior quarter.  The dividend was paid on January 15, 2016, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 31, 2015.  

Asset Quality
Nonperforming loans, excluding PCI loans, were $19.1 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, or 0.60% of loans, compared with $23.9 million at the end of the third quarter of 2015, or 0.79% of loans and $25.3 million, or 0.92% of loans at the end of the fourth quarter last year.

OREO was $8.5 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, down from $13.2 million at the end of the prior quarter. OREO primarily resulted from the 2014 fourth quarter CBI acquisition.  Classified loans were $39.3 million, or 1.24% of loans, at December 31, 2015, compared with $40.1 million, or 1.32% of loans, at September 30, 2015 and $47.4 million, or 1.72% of loans, a year ago.  Nonperforming assets were $27.6 million at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, or 0.65% of assets, compared with 0.88% of assets at the end of the prior quarter and 0.97% of assets at the end of the same quarter last year.

Gross charge-offs for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $529,000, compared with $1.7 million for the preceding quarter and $1.4 million for the same period a year ago. Recoveries of previously charged-off loans for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $937,000, compared with $994,000 for the preceding quarter and $1.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. As a result, there were net recoveries of $408,000 for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to net charge-offs of $754,000 for the preceding quarter and net recoveries of $283,000 for the year ago period. 

The allowance for loan losses was $42.9 million as of December 31, 2015, generating an allowance of loan losses to loans receivable ratio of 1.35% compared with 1.52% as of September 30, 2015 and 1.89% as of December 31, 2014.

Conference Call                            
Management will host a conference call today, January 26, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. PT (4:00 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 1:00 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 42 full-service branches and 6 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. 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 the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. 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 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 plans, strategic alternatives for a possible business combination, merger or sale transaction, and other similar forecasts and statements of expectation and statements of assumption underlying any of the foregoing. These 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 statement. These factors include the following: 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; 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 related to our real estate portfolio; risks associated with Small Business Administration loans; failure to attract or retain key employees; changes in governmental regulation, including, but not limited to, any increase in FDIC insurance premiums; ability of Hanmi Bank to make distributions to Hanmi Financial, which is restricted by certain factors, including Hanmi Bank’s retained earnings, net income, prior distributions made, and certain other financial tests; ability to identify a suitable strategic partner or to consummate a strategic transaction; adequacy of our allowance for loan losses; credit quality and the effect of credit quality on our provision for loan losses and allowance for loan losses; 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; and changes in securities markets. 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, 2014, 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.