Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOPE) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Julianna Balicka: So for special mention, the change was through a variety of C&I loans, but not a particular industry concentration and the reserve increase quarter-over-quarter was an outcome of our CECL model, which, as you know, has changes related to qualitative, quantitative factors and specific reserves and the macroeconomic forecast. So that whole mix enabled us to build our reserve, which we think is a prudent way to manage reserves at this point in the economic cycle.

Matthew Clark: Okay. Great. And then just last one for me. On your kind of outlook on — for deposits embedded in your assumptions. It sounds like there’s less of a mix change going forward. But do balances — do you assume balances stabilize from here?

Julianna Balicka: I think that — well we definitely have some deposit goals and initiatives and programs in place to grow our balances. But what I can tell you is that month to date relative to June 30th, our balances are up close to $200 million. So we are certainly having positive trends in our deposits that are going on as kind of the volatility to happen in the making industry earlier in the year starts to receive more into the background.

Matthew Clark: Perfect. Thank you.

Operator: [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Gary Tenner of D.A. Davidson. Go ahead.

Gary Tenner: Thanks. Good morning. Just a follow-up on the question about CD maturities. Julianna could you tell us what the rate is on those CDs that are maturing back half of this year?

Julianna Balicka: One second. So the average rate on the CDs maturing in the third quarter will be 4.13%. And in the fourth quarter, will be 4.39%.

Gary Tenner: Okay. Thank you. And then just given where the stock is trading still 75% of tangible book. Any thoughts on buyback or utilizing the buyback?

Kevin Kim: Our capital ratios are all strong and we like the growth that we saw this quarter. But at this time, I don’t think we are anticipating saw repurchases anytime soon.

Gary Tenner: Great. And then last question. In terms of the multi-tenant retail just because it’s the largest of your commercial real estate segments, can you talk about kind of what amount of those loans are scheduled to reprice and mature back half of this year in 2024.

Julianna Balicka: Well, we don’t have the very specifics by property type handy with us right now, but we can follow up with you offline on the very specifics of that one particular property segment.

Gary Tenner: Well, and then maybe Julianna, just in general, as you think about commercial real estate and repricing and maturing over a similar time period, how far out are you going in terms of kind of stressing and analyzing the credits? Are you going out into 2024 at this point? Or really just back half of this year in terms of kind of getting a better sense of where those borrowers lie with their ability to service at higher rates, et cetera?

Peter Koh: Yes. This is Peter. Maybe I’ll take that one. So I think overall CRE portfolio is performing pretty good up to now. I think as we’re looking at sort of that refi risk that I think you’re referencing there. I think in the very initial stages, maybe early this year, we went through a pretty much a deep dive and tried to stress that portfolio in terms of higher interest rates and things. And I think at this point, we feel pretty confident right now that the majority of our customers are able to refinance. I think partly due to just the lower LTVs and improving cash flows that we have seen post-pandemic that gives them ability to refinance with us even at the higher rates. So there are one-off cases where there are potential workouts and things, but the majority — vast majority of our customers, we’re seeing that, that refi risk is pretty low.