Good day and welcome to the Hope Bancorp Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions] After today’s presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Ms. Angie Yang, Director of Investor Relations. Please proceed.

Thank you, Ian. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for the Hope Bancorp 2019 second quarter investor conference call. As usual, we will be using a slide presentation to accompany our discussion this morning. If you have not done so already, please visit the Presentations page of our Investor Relations website to download a copy of the presentation, or if you are listening into the webcast, you should be able to view the slides from your computer screen as we progress through the presentation. Moving on Slide 2, I’d like to begin with a brief statement regarding forward-looking remarks. The call today may contain forward looking projections regarding the future financial performance of the Company and future events. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, projections and management assumptions about the future performance of the Company as well as the businesses and markets in which the Company does and is expected to operate. These statements constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. We refer you to the documents the Company files periodically with the SEC as well as the Safe Harbor statements in our press release issued yesterday. Hope Bancorp assumes no obligation to revise any forward looking projections that may be made on today's call. The Company cautions that the complete financial results to be included in the quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 to differ materially from the financial results being reported today. In addition, some of the information referenced on this call today, are non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our 2019 second quarter earnings release for the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. Now, we have allotted one hour for this call. Presenting from the management side today will be Kevin Kim, Hope Bancorp's Chairman, President and CEO; and Alex Ko, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Chief Credit Officer, Peter Koh is also here with us today and will participate in the Q&A session. With that, let me turn the call over to Kevin Kim. Kevin?

Thank you, Angie. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. Let's begin with Slide 3. In the second quarter, we noted positive trends in a number of key financial metrics. We recognized a higher level of loan production while continuing to focus on originating credits with more attractive risk adjusted yields. We continue to do a better job in managing our deposit costs, and we have substantial improvement in asset quality which further supports that the one of credit issues that we experienced in the first quarter were not reflective of the overall health of our portfolio. From a net income perspective, we generated $42.7 million in net income during the second quarter, or $0.34 per diluted share, which was comparable with the $42.8 million or $0.34 per diluted share in the preceding first quarter. Moving on to Slide 4, we also recognized increases in loan production across all of our major lending areas in the second quarter with a particularly nice pickup in C&I origination, which is consistent with our balance sheet diversification strategy. We booked $597 million in new loan commitments and funded $504 million during the second quarter. This is up from $462 million in new loan commitments and $442 million in loans funded during the first quarter. However, payoffs and pay downs were significantly higher this quarter at $599 million, compared with $364 million in the first quarter. This higher level of payoffs was largely driven by aggressive pricing among mainstream banks. This aggressive pricing ticked up midway through the quarter as the probability for lower interest rates increased. We took advantage of this market dynamic to access some of our lower rated credits from the bank, which Alex will discuss later in the call. We also continue to sell loans out of…

Thank you, Kevin. As I review our financial results, I will limit my discussions to just some of the more significant items in the quarter. Beginning with Slide 5, I will start with our net interest income, which totaled $117.2 million compared with $119.6 million in the preceding first quarter. The reduction was primarily due to a slight decrease in our average loan balances coupled with lower net interest margin. Our net interest margin declined by 8 basis point to 3.31%. On a core basis, excluding purchase accounting adjustment, our net interest margin decline by 6 basis point which was an improvement from the 7 basis points decline in the first quarter of 2019. The decline was primarily due to a 5 basis point increase in our cost of deposits. While we are still seeing a modest increase in deposit costs, we saw a significant moderation in the rate of increase this quarter. The 5 basis point increase was down from a 17 basis points increase in the prior quarter as it reflects the progress we are making with the various initiatives we are employing to enhance our core deposit gathering and to better manage our deposit costs. We also continue to see positive trends in the repricing gap on time deposit renewals or the delta between the CDs expiring rate and the renewal rate. During the second quarter, the repricing gap was 18 basis points down significantly from the 50 basis points repricing gap in the preceding first quarter. The moderation of the repricing gap should lead to further improvement in our ability to manage our deposit costs going forward. Our average loan yield excluding purchase accounting adjustment was relatively flat quarter-over-quarter. Now with regard to our net interest margin projection for the year, in the past couple of…

Thank you, Alex. Let's move on to Slide 10. While we have experienced a flatness in our balance sheet during the first half of the year, we remain positive with respect to the initiatives that we have in motion. To provide a brief recap, we have embarked on a balance sheet diversification strategy, and we expect to continue to see a favorable shift in the mix of new loan production. We are very focused on continuing to gain more traction with our deposit gathering initiatives, improving our deposit mix, and enhancing our ability to control our deposit costs. We also expect to see our good credit quality to continue and we will continue to improve our expense management. Now, in terms of our outlook in a rapidly evolving and more challenging business environment for banks, we expect many of the positive trends we have experienced in the half of the year, will continue as we progress through the year. Given the strong pipeline we have in SBA and the consistent production we are getting in commercial lending, we expect to see stronger loan origination volumes in the back half of the year. However, due to the highly competitive environment that is driving elevated payoffs, we are facing stronger headwinds than we initially expected at the beginning of the year. As a result, we now expect loan growth for the full year to be more in the 2% to 3% range. Now, as we announced yesterday, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $50 million of our Company's common stock. We believe having the plan in place gives us greater flexibility to create additional value for our shareholders, especially in times of market disruption. It also enhances our ability to maintain a balanced capital allocation strategy, while providing a steady return of capital to our shareholders through our quarterly dividend. Altogether with our quarterly cash dividend that has a payout ratio in excess of 40%, our management and board are committed to delivering solid financial performance and enhancing shareholder returns. With that, let's open up the call to answer any questions you may have. Operator, please open up the call.

[Operator Instructions] At this time, our first question comes from Gary Tenner of D.A. Davidson. Gary, please proceed.

Hey, I wanted to ask, I guess, first off, on the deposit side, you talked about some of the initiatives this quarter and kind of the repricing gap narrowing in the second quarter and I think also maybe expecting for the third quarter, but I wonder if you could actually talk about where you do expect it in the third quarter based on what you know today? And then, the follow up to that is, with the margin impact of 5 basis points to 8 basis points based on a 25 basis point cut, I wasn't clear if that was inclusive or not of the expected ability to workout deposit costs?

Okay. Gary, this is Alex. Deposit initiatives, as I indicated, we are making progresses especially for treasury management services and also our deposit cost management strategy by shifting the mixture of the deposit component, especially for lower cost deposits, DDA is increasing while we have a cannibalization between the CD and the money market. We saw reduction on the CD while those core deposit money market and DDA was increasing. So we are making good progresses in terms of our initiatives and we would like to continue to see those progresses. Relate to repricing gap, as we said, the CD especially maturing versus the new offering rate, the gap has substantially narrowed especially for this quarter. And as you recall, last year or so, there was a rapid and a big gap between the CD maturing and the new offering rate, but I think that has come down substantially and I would expect to see the narrowing gap continue as our CD pricing will be stabilized and if the actual market rate goes down, we might be able to lower a little bit. So that repricing gap, again, I would expect to continue decrease. Relates to margins, we did say if the case of a 25 basis point reduction, we would expect about 5 basis point to 8 basis point further compression on the margin because we see the pricing on the loan side will be kind of a pressure while not the deposit pricing can be, we can proactively manage, but we would expect to have further compression from the rate decreases.

Okay. Thank you for the detail and then just one quick follow-up on the expense side. You mentioned the branch consolidation that would benefit the third quarter. I wasn't clear from your comments, it sounded like that would sort of largely be offset by growth in other areas or do you expect an actual absolute decline in operating expenses in the third quarter?

Sure. I would actually expect the run rate for the non-interest expense for the third quarter of 2019 to be approximately the same as we saw in Q2, which is around like a $71.5 million. I think we would expect slightly increase on the salary and benefits Q3. However, as we indicated, the branch consolidation, we completed the second quarter and we'll have a full benefit of those cost savings starting Q3. So, those will decrease our overhead costs about $390,000 on a quarterly basis. And for other expenses, I don't expect after Q4 of this year any substantial professional fee increase, but for the rest of the year, we are working very hard on the CECL. And the CECL fee, we would expect to continue to be same level, elevated level for the third quarter and the fourth quarter. But again after the year end, once the CECL is completed, we would expect to have those professional fees remain flat or decrease. So with that, we did have a little bit increase on the non-interest expense to average asset ratio in Q2, but, I think going forward, the rate, we still expect to between 1.5% to 1.88% going forward.

Our next question comes from Chris McGratty of KBW. Chris, please proceed.

Hey, good morning. Thanks for the question. Alex, if we could just go into the margin a little bit. So, working off -- I want to make sure I understand the guide. Working off the second quarter of 331, I think the forward curve assumes a couple cuts this year, so that would kind of put the margin -- and exiting the year in the 315 to 320 range roughly. I'm interested if that scenario plays out, and your deposit costs eventually catch up to your assets, how we should think about margins entering 2020? I know it's a -- and it's a lot of assumptions need to be made, but is there -- in a static rate environment, do you get NIM -- is NIM stability kind of the goal given what you're doing with the balance sheet or do you think about the pressure or expansion one way or the other? Thanks.

Yes, Chris. That's a really tough question to answer at this moment because so much, so many variables. As you mentioned, the rate curve and very -- all those kind of things, it does impact significantly on our projection on the net interest margin. So that's why we were comfortable giving an immediate impact of 25 basis point reduction. How is that impact in our 2019 net interest margin sort of like a 5 basis point to 8 basis point reduction, but moving on to 2020 forecast, it's again kind of tough given the number of variables, but I think we are making a success on the deposit cost control and also core margin. Now, we did say about the 1 basis point improvement in terms of contraction. In Q1, we had a 7 basis point reduction but in Q2 we have only 6 basis points. So we're still -- our priority is to deposit cost control. So with our health on the deposit cost control, we would like to see in 2020, there will be a better margin. But I think it's important for me to mention that our previously expectations for the second half of margin kind of turn around to improve, I think there might be some changes necessary given all the macroeconomic and the interest rate environment, we'd expect to extend that margin compression period in a few more quarters. So we will definitely see in the 2020. I'm hoping better margin, but I would like to continue to see in 2019 for margin to be further compressed.

Okay. If I could add another one on the margin, the accretion outlook, it's been ticking down slowly the last couple quarters. How should we be thinking about accretion contribution the next several quarters and obviously when winter season hits, any kind of thoughts on impact there?

Yes. We have about $23 million of credit-related undiscounted accretion. If CCEL is effective in 1/1/2020, those $23 million will be added on to allowance for loan losses and we'll have a slight reduction on the accretion of those discounts which will have an impact to net interest margin, but I don't think that's a big impact to our margin.

Okay. And then maybe, I'll -- one for Kevin and I'll hop out. Kevin, the buyback announcement, obviously, the balance sheet was flat to down a little in the quarter, and it sounds like the growth, whatever growth you are going to have in the balance sheet is going to be clearly be able to supported by your capital levels. So, should we think of this buyback as the flexibility or is it something where given where your stock is, analysts and investors should just assume that this is going to be executed in kind of the next couple quarters?

Well, we are in a very rapidly evolving market for financial institutions and we will be actively monitoring market indicators and will do the repurchase when all the factors taken into consideration indicate that a repurchase at a given time is in the best interest of the Company and our shareholders. So, there are so many moving parts and uncertainties, but we will be quick when the right time comes. So it's hard to answer whether the execution will take place within the next few months or within the next few quarters. We will closely monitor the market situation.

Our next question comes from Matthew Clarke of Piper Jaffray. Matthew, please proceed.

Just on the expense to average asset ratio. I just want to make sure I heard you correctly. 1.85% to 1.88% is the expectation in the upcoming quarter and wanted to get your thoughts as it relates to outlook looking beyond the third quarter, whether that we could get back down to that 1.80% to 1.85% range again?

Yes, I think that's our expectation. The reason why we have a little bit of higher for this quarter was in combination of $0.5 million or so increase on the expenses, but also a denominator in the average earning asset slightly decreased. However, we are projecting our average balance will continue to go up and also the cost management is one of our priority, especially when the CECL is completed. I'm not aware of any big ticket items that would require substantial investment on the professional fee or other expense items. So, I would expect normalize after -- on two quarters and also including Q3, our run rate will be between 1.85% to 1.88%.

Okay. And then just on SBA, any change in appetite there based on the premiums you're seeing or you're going to continue just to retain the foreseeable future?

Well, as you may see, the premiums have increased in recent months and the economics of selling the loans is now back to the level where it is a more attractive option, but we will consider it in the overall scheme of our 2019 priorities that favor higher yielding loans in our portfolio and that we have not yet made any change in our strategy to retain SBA loans in our portfolio.

Okay, and then just on the gain on sale this quarter, the margins look better. Anything unusual there or you think that's a good gain on sale margin to use going forward?

Well, we have the gain on sale of our mortgage loans. If you look at that, we have the sale of loans in second quarter that includes a bulk sale from our existing portfolio and whether we will continue to sell our loans from the retained mortgage portfolio, I think, the key word is opportunistic and our decision making process for selling our retained mortgage loans. So if you want to have a run rate for gain on sale of mortgage loans, I would probably focus on the new loan originations volume, and we have produced about $74 million in second quarter and we expect a comparable production level in Q3. So I think you should expect a lower number than the second quarter because the second quarter number included the bulk sale, and we do not know at this time whether we will have the bulk sale in the third quarter.

Our next question comes from Tim Coffey of Janney. Tim, please proceed.

Kevin, the competition for the mainstream banks that you mentioned during your prepared remarks, is that a function of banks coming down market?

Yes, we have a tremendous competition from the national banks and money center banks, even money center banks for our customer base and I think we have a lot more competition from the larger banks than the peer space banks in terms of our lending opportunities. In terms of our deposit efforts, I think, we have severe competition from the space peers, but in terms of lending, during the several quarters, previous quarters, we see a lot more competition from the mainstream banks than the space peers.

Okay. And the competition from the mainstream banks, does it feel any different than it did a couple of years ago when rates were declining or is it about the same?

Well, I think there are more aggressive in terms of pricing these days than they used to be.

Okay, great. The rest of my questions have been answered. Thank you.

Thanks.

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Tim O'Brien of Sandler O'Neill & Partners. Tim, please proceed.

Thanks. Just one question. I've a little follow up on the credit situation. You guys had good progress this quarter. Could you give a little color on, if the remaining workouts related to the loans that you guys talked about in the first quarter is on track to exit or resolve fairly quickly? Or what your thoughts are there for credit outlook here in the second -- heading into the second half of this year?

Sure, this is Peter. So, the first quarter credits that we described that popped up, I think, we really didn't see any further deterioration in any of those credits that remain. I think from the overall portfolio, look, I think we have been very proactive in identifying potential problem credits. I think as we move forward into the third quarter, there will be some just natural lumpiness in terms of quarter-to-quarter results, but I think we do anticipate credit quality to continue to improve.

Our next question comes from David Chiaverini of Wedbush Securities. David, please proceed.

Hi, thanks. A question on loan growth. So, you mentioned about, how you're expecting stronger originations going forward, but yet you did lower loan guidance. Now, is that a function of expecting continued elevated payoffs or is that more of a function that the second quarter was weak so we'll be kind of making up for the weakness in the second quarter?

Well, first of all, I want to say that I'm not that much concerned about the flat balance of our portfolio during the first half of the year, because we don't think it is not a result of lack of new loan originations, but it is more attributable to unusually high payoffs during the second quarter. As we commented, we were able to take advantage of the aggressive lending of some other banks to move a significant amount of lower rated credits of our books during the quarter and those relationships amounted to approximately $75 million. And we don't have as many loans now that we are looking to proactively access. So, that eliminates one of the factors contributing to the higher level of payoffs during the second quarter. Although, we expect payoff levels to remain high, I don't think it's likely that they will remain at the level that we saw in the second quarter. And at the same time, we have a stronger pipeline in SBA. We are gaining traction from our C&I efforts. So, I think our second half loan originations will be stronger than the first half of the year. So, that is why I'm not that much concerned about the flat balance of the loan portfolio during the first half of the year.

Great, thanks for that, and then a housekeeping related to that. The 2% to 3% loan growth guidance, is that period end? Like December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019 or is that average?

Yes, yes. That is correct. That is correct.

Okay, thanks very much.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Don Worthington of Raymond James. Don, please proceed.

Maybe just to clarify or little more color in terms of the credit related costs this quarter, was that largely related to the problem assets that were cleaned up in the quarter and therefore you'd expect that to drop back down?

Yes. That is actually the fluctuating quarter-over-quarter and this quarter it happened to have a elevated level of foreclosure -- I'm sorry, the forced insurance and also kind of legal fees related to collection effort. So, as we expect to have a credit improve, those credit-related expenses is naturally expected to go down.

Okay. And then, Alex, you mentioned raising the money market deposit rate. What did that go to and then what was it before?

Yes. We were very strategically had a money market pricing be competitive because we did expected some cannibalization from the CD to money market, but we were sensitive on the controlling -- the overall deposit cost. So we were competitive in the money market rate and also for competition purposes, I will refrain from the disclosing exact offering rate, but there was a slight increase on the money market rate that we offered in Q2 compared to previous quarters.

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

Thank you. Once again, thank you all for joining us today, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you, everyone, so long.

Thank you.

The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.