EXHIBIT 99.1

Hanmi Reports Third Quarter 2020 Results

2020 Third Quarter Highlights:        

• Net income of $16.3 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, up 78.1% from net income of $9.2 million, or $0.30 per share, for the prior quarter and up 32.1% from net income of $12.4 million, or $0.40 per share, from the same quarter a year ago.
• Loans receivable were $4.83 billion, relatively unchanged compared with the end of the prior quarter, and included $256.6 million of new loan and lease production. Loans receivable were up 5.8% year-over-year.
• Deposits of $5.19 billion compared with $5.21 billion from the end of the second quarter; Deposits up 10.7% from a year ago. Cost of interest-bearing deposits fell 24 basis points from the prior quarter.
  • Noninterest-bearing demand deposits of $1.96 billion, up 20.5% from the prior quarter on an annualized basis and up 41.3% year-over-year.
• Credit loss expense, under the new accounting standard, was $0.04 million, compared with $24.6 million for the prior quarter resulting in an allowance for credit losses of 1.79% of loans at September 30, 2020 – 1.91% excluding Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.
• Nonperforming assets were 1.07% (1.00% after giving effect to a $3.6 million loan payoff in October) of total assets at quarter-end compared with 0.94% for the prior quarter; the change for the quarter reflects the addition of four loans for $7.9 million, a net increase of $1.4 million in nonperforming leases, and the return to accruing status of four loans for $2.3 million.
• Net interest income was $45.6 million for the third quarter compared with $44.4 million for the prior quarter; third quarter prepayment penalties were $1.3 million compared with $0.1 million for the prior quarter.
• Net interest margin for the third quarter was 3.13% (3.18% excluding PPP loans) compared with 3.15% (3.21% excluding PPP loans) for the prior quarter; prepayment penalties contributed approximately 9 basis points and 1 basis point, respectively, to net interest margin.
• Noninterest income was $7.1 million for the third quarter compared with $20.9 million for the prior quarter; third quarter included $2.3 million of gains from sales of SBA loans while the second quarter included none and second quarter included $15.7 million of gains from sales of securities while the third quarter included none.
• Noninterest expense was $29.9 million for the third quarter compared with $27.1 million for the prior quarter; the second quarter included the $3.1 million effect of deferred loan origination costs from PPP loan originations. The efficiency ratio for the third quarter was 56.73% compared with 41.51% (60.82% excluding securities gains and deferred PPP loan origination costs) for the prior quarter.
• Hanmi remained well capitalized with a Total risk-based capital ratio of 15.45% and a Common equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 11.68% at September 30, 2020, and ended the third quarter with tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio of 9.05% (9.52% excluding PPP loans).
  

For more information about Hanmi’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including detail regarding participation in the PPP, loan deferrals, including a breakdown by loan type and industry, as well as detail concerning Hanmi’s loan exposure to higher impacted industries, please see the Q3 2020 Investor Update (and Supplemental Financial Information), a copy of 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.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hanmi Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: HAFC, or “Hanmi”), the parent company of Hanmi Bank (the “Bank”), today reported net income for the 2020 third quarter of $16.3 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared with $9.2 million, or $0.30 per diluted share for the 2020 second quarter and $12.4 million, or $0.40 per diluted share for the 2019 third quarter.

Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “In light of the significant challenges and uncertainty we faced in the first half of 2020 arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, I am extremely pleased with the financial and operational improvements we achieved in the third quarter. In particular, efforts to protect our portfolio and help borrowers impacted by the pandemic through modifications, deferrals and other services have been extremely successful. We are very encouraged by the positive trend with the modified loan portfolio, declining to approximately 12% of the portfolio as of the end of the third quarter, and down from 29% at the end of the prior quarter. We also saw the benefit of lower deposit costs, moderated credit loss expense, a return to SBA loan sales and careful management of noninterest expense. Together, this greatly expanded our third quarter net income to $16.3 million, or $0.53 per diluted share.”

Ms. Lee further added, “While we will continue to proactively monitor the macroeconomic environment and the performance of our loan portfolio, we are concurrently taking steps to provide our customers with additional products and services, further diversify our sources of revenue and safely and soundly drive growth and profitability at the Bank. During the quarter we hired key executives to enhance our residential mortgage origination capabilities, as well as accelerate the digitization of our banking platform to provide a more convenient and seamless customer experience. We are confident these efforts will deepen our relationships with new and existing customers, allow us to scale more efficiently and provide exciting growth opportunities for Hanmi.”

Ms. Lee concluded, “As we look ahead to the fourth quarter and beyond, we remain committed to supporting our loyal customers, prioritizing the health and safety of our employees and communities and ultimately emerging from the pandemic well-positioned to drive profitable, sustainable growth and maximize value for our shareholders.”

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

Results of Operations
Net interest income was $45.6 million for the third quarter of 2020 compared with $44.4 million for the second quarter of 2020, an increase of 2.6%. Interest and fees on loans increased 0.7%, or $0.4 million, from the preceding quarter primarily due to higher average balances, partially offset by a 7 basis point reduction in average yields. Interest on securities decreased 38.8%, or $1.2 million, from the preceding quarter primarily due to the sale of $479.9 million of securities during the previous quarter and the subsequent reinvestment into lower-yielding securities. Third quarter total interest expense decreased 18.2%, or $2.1 million from the preceding quarter driven by a 24 basis point reduction in the average rate paid on interest-bearing deposits. Third quarter loan prepayment penalties were $1.3 million compared with $0.1 million for the second quarter.

Net interest margin was 3.13% for the third quarter of 2020 compared with 3.15% for the second quarter of 2020, principally reflecting an 18 basis point decline in the yield on earning assets offset by a 24 basis point decline in the cost of interest-bearing deposits. The average earning asset yield was 3.77% for the third quarter of 2020 compared with 3.95% for the second quarter of 2020. The 18 basis point decline was primarily due to the reduction in securities yields reflecting the prior quarter sale of securities and reinvestment into lower-yielding securities, and, to a lesser extent lower average yields on loans receivable. The cost of interest-bearing liabilities was 1.05% for the third quarter of 2020 compared with 1.23% for the second quarter of 2020. The 24 basis point decline in the cost of interest-bearing deposits drove the lower cost of interest-bearing liabilities.

For the third quarter of 2020, credit loss expense was $0.04 million, comprised of a $0.70 million provision for loan losses and a $0.66 million negative provision for off-balance sheet items. The provision for credit losses for the second quarter of 2020 was $21.1 million and the provision for loan losses was $1.6 million for the third quarter of 2019. The provision for off-balance sheet items was $3.5 million and $0.2 million for the second quarter of 2020 and third quarter of 2019, respectively.

Third quarter noninterest income decreased to $7.1 million from $20.9 million for the second quarter, primarily due to the $15.7 million in gains on sales of securities realized in the second quarter as a result of repositioning the securities portfolio to capture the high-level of unrealized gains arising from the very low rate environment. This decrease was partially offset by a $2.3 million increase in gain on sale of SBA loans on $29.3 million of loans sold for the third quarter of 2020. Hanmi did not sell any SBA loans during the second quarter due to disruptions in the secondary market resulting from the COVID-19 crisis.

During the third quarter of 2020, noninterest expense increased 10.3% to $29.9 million from $27.1 million for the second quarter primarily due to $3.1 million in deferred loan costs from PPP loans in the second quarter which drove a reduction in 2020 second quarter salaries and benefits expense. Primarily as a result of the decrease in revenues (noninterest income and net interest income), as well as higher noninterest expense, the efficiency ratio increased to 56.73% in the third quarter from 41.51% in the prior quarter. Excluding securities gains and deferred PPP loan origination costs the efficiency ratio for the third quarter was 56.73% compared with 60.82% for the prior quarter.

Hanmi recorded a provision for income taxes of $6.4 million for the third quarter of 2020, representing an effective tax rate of 28.3% compared with $4.5 million, representing an effective tax rate of 32.7%, for the second quarter of 2020. For the first nine months of 2020, the effective tax rate was 30.0%.

Financial Position
Total assets were $6.11 billion at September 30, 2020, a 1.8% decrease from $6.22 billion at June 30, 2020.

Loans receivable, before the allowance for credit losses, were $4.83 billion at September 30, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Loans held for sale, representing the guaranteed portion of SBA 7(a) loans were $12.8 million at the end of the third quarter, compared with $17.9 million at the end of the second quarter.

For the third quarter of 2020, commercial real estate loans as a percentage of loans receivable decreased to 67.5% compared with 70.2% for the same period last year. Commercial and industrial loans, which included $302.9 million of SBA guaranteed PPP loans, reached 15.8% of the portfolio at the end of the 2020-third quarter, up from 9.7% a year ago.

Hanmi generated strong loan production volume through the third quarter. New loan production totaled $256.6 million at an average rate of 4.57%, while the average rate of loans paid off during the same period was 5.13%.

Deposits totaled $5.19 billion at the end of the third quarter, compared with $5.21 billion at the end of the preceding quarter. Growth in noninterest-bearing demand deposits and interest-bearing demand deposits was more than offset by reductions in time deposits. At September 30, 2020 the loan-to-deposit ratio was 93.1% compared with 92.6% at the end of the previous quarter.

At September 30, 2020, the Bank had $150.0 million in borrowings from the FHLB with $1.4 billion of remaining unused availability. As of the end of the third quarter of 2020, the Bank had unused secured and unsecured facilities of $1.8 billion and $115.0 million, respectively.

At September 30, 2020, the Company had $16.1 million of cash on deposit with the Bank. Hanmi continues to believe it has ample liquidity to operate in the evolving, uncertain macroeconomic environment resulting from the pandemic, and is continuously evaluating potential liquidity requirements.

At September 30, 2020, stockholders’ equity was $563.2 million, compared with $547.4 million at June 30, 2020. Tangible common stockholders’ equity was $551.5 million, or 9.05% of tangible assets, at September 30, 2020 compared with $535.7 million, or 8.63% of tangible assets at the end of the second quarter. The ratio of tangible common equity to tangible assets excluding the $302.9 million of PPP loans was 9.52% at the end of the 2020-third quarter. Tangible book value per share increased to $17.95 at September 30, 2020 from $17.47 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 12.11% and a Total risk-based capital ratio of 15.45% at September 30, 2020, versus 11.55% and 14.85%, respectively, at the end of the second quarter.

Asset Quality
Loans and leases 30 to 89 days past due and still accruing were 0.20% of loans and leases at the end of the third quarter of 2020, compared with 0.21% at the end of the second quarter.

Special mention loans were $57.1 million at the end of the third quarter compared with $21.1 million at June 30, 2020. The September 30, 2020 balance of special mention loans included $31.6 million of loans adversely affected by the pandemic.

Classified loans were $106.2 million at September 30, 2020 compared with $93.9 million at the end of the second quarter. The quarter-over-quarter change reflects additions or downgrades of $33.4 million and reductions or upgrades of $21.1 million. At September 30, 2020 classified loans included $21.7 million of loans adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nonperforming loans were $64.3 million at the end of the third quarter of 2020, or 1.33% (1.25% after giving effect to a $3.6 million loan payoff in October) of loans compared with $58.3 million at the end of the second quarter, or 1.21% of the portfolio.

Nonperforming assets were $65.4 million at the end of the third quarter of 2020, or 1.07% (1.00% after giving effect to a $3.6 million loan payoff in October) of total assets, compared with $58.4 million, or 0.94% of assets, at the end of the prior quarter.

Modified loans and leases declined 59% to $578.6 million at September 30, 2020 from $1.4 billion at June 30, 2020. Approximately 70%, or $402.7 million, of modified loans require interest-only payments. In addition, of the modified loan portfolio, 5.2% were special mention, 4.1% were classified and none were on nonaccrual status at September 30, 2020.

Gross charge-offs for the third quarter of 2020 were $2.2 million compared with $1.6 million for the preceding quarter. Recoveries of previously charged-off loans for the third quarter of 2020 were $1.7 million compared with $0.3 million for the preceding quarter. As a result, there were net charge-offs of $0.4 million for the third quarter of 2020, compared with net charge-offs of $1.3 million for the preceding quarter. For the third quarter of 2020, net charge-offs represented an annualized 0.03% of average loans compared with 0.11% of average loans for the second quarter.

The allowance for credit losses was $86.6 million as of September 30, 2020 generating an allowance for credit losses to loans of 1.79% (1.91% excluding the PPP loans) compared with 1.79% (1.91% excluding the PPP loans) at the end of the prior quarter. Although largely unchanged from the second quarter, the allowance reflects the change in macroeconomic assumptions including a lower projected average unemployment rate for the subsequent four quarters and a higher projected annual GDP growth rate. Hanmi recognizes the inherent uncertainties in the estimate of the allowance for credit losses and the effects the COVID-19 pandemic may have on our borrowers. Hanmi expects the estimate of the allowance for credit losses will change in future periods because of changes in economic conditions, economic forecasts, and other factors.

Corporate Developments
On July 29, 2020 Hanmi’s Board of Directors declared a cash dividend on its common stock for the 2020 third quarter of $0.08 per share. The dividend was paid on August 31, 2020 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on August 10, 2020.

Conference Call        
Management will host a conference call today, October 27, 2020 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 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. 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 competition and 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;
• the imposition of tariffs or other domestic or international governmental policies impacting the value of the products of our borrowers;
• 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;
• our ability to identify a suitable strategic partner or to consummate a strategic transaction;
• 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;
• 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 full 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 gradual 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 high 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;
• as the result of the decline in the Federal Reserve Board’s target federal funds rate to near 0%, the yield on our assets may decline to a greater extent than the decline in our cost of interest-bearing liabilities;
• a material decrease in net income or a net loss over several quarters could result in 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 successors.

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, 2019, 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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