Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Q1 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator: I’m showing no further questions. This concludes our question-and-answer session. Excuse me, we do have a question from Tim Coffey with Janney. Please go ahead.

Tim Coffey: Great. I got it in. How are you doing?

Kevin Kim: Good morning Tim.

Tim Coffey: Kevin, I just had a question about, what kind of sense you have for this air pocket that you’re seeing among your borrowers, especially commercial real estate borrowers. How long do you think that might last?

Peter Koh: Can you elaborate on what you mean by air pocket?

Tim Coffey: Well, the originations as for the last two quarters you’ve made comments about the higher interest rate environment not being conducive for additional demand for credit from your customers. I’m wondering, if you see a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of that regard.

Kevin Kim: Well, Tim, we expect our loan growth to be in the low single-digit range in 2023. So, we really do not see much of a drastic change in terms of the loan demand or our projected loan production in the CRE area. Although, that 2% growth will be across the board coming from every business unit of our organization, we do not see much of a change at least in 2023.

Tim Coffey: Okay. So, you’re not seeing much of an inflection point then near term? Is this going to be steady across the balance of the year then? Is that right?

Kevin Kim: Yes, I think, that’s generally correct.

Tim Coffey: Okay. All right. Great. Those are my questions. Thank you for the time.

Kevin Kim: Thank you, Tim. Operator, do we have any other questions?

Operator: There are no more questions in the queue. I’d like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

Kevin Kim: Okay. Once again, thank you for joining us today and we look forward to speaking with you again in three months. So, long everyone.

Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.