East West Bancorp, Inc.

And welcome to the East-West Bancorp's fourth quarter 2021 financial results conference call. All participants will be in listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star, then one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, please press star, then two. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Juliana Beliska, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Sarah. Good morning, and thank you, everyone, for joining us to review the financial results of West Bank Corp for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021. With me on this conference call today are Dominic Ng, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Irene Oh, our Chief Financial Officer. We would like to caution you that during the course of the call, management may make projections or other forward-looking statements regarding events or future financial performance of the company within the meaning of the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Legation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may differ materially from the actual results due to a number of risks and uncertainties. For a more detailed description of risk factors that could affect the company's operating results, Please refer to our filings of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. In addition, some of the numbers referenced on this call pertain to adjusted numbers. Please refer to the bank's regulatory filings, including our Form 8-K, filed today for the reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures. During the course of this call, we will be referencing a slide deck that is available as part of the webcast on the Investor Relations site. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded and will also be available in replay format on our investor relations website. I will now turn the call over to Dominic.

Thank you, Juliana. Good morning. Thank you, everyone, for joining us for our earnings call. I will begin the review of our financial results with slide three of our presentation. This morning, we reported net income of $218 million and earnings per share of $1.52 for the fourth quarter of 2021. For the full year, EastWest achieved record earnings of $6.10 per share. Record full year total revenue of $1.8 billion grew by 13% year over year, and record net income of $873 million grew by 54%. This was driven by full year total loan growth of 12% excluding PPP and full year total deposit growth of 19%. We returned 1.5% on assets and 17.2% on tangible equity for the year. Our outstanding financial performance in 2021 reflected robust interest income and fee income growth industry leading efficiency and substantially improved asset quality. In the fourth quarter of 2021, non-performing assets decreased by 40% and criticized loans were down by 18%. For each consecutive quarter of 2021, criticized loans decreased. The fourth quarter annualized net charge off ratio also decreased to a low 10 basis points. At the same time, we maintained our healthy allowances for loan losses. Our reserve coverage of loans was 1.3% as of December 31st, 2021. We're starting the new year from a position of strength. Loan growth prospects for 2022 are excellent. We believe that our broad-based diversified loan growth momentum from 2021 will continue in the new year. And we are encouraged by the favorable credit environment. Our balance sheet is well positioned to benefit from current market expectations for rising interest rates. Further, investments that we have made over the last several years in cash management and payment related products and services have helped to strengthen our core deposit base. As of December 31st, 2021, non-interest bearing demand deposits made up 43% of total deposits, a record for East-West. We have a long standing history of industry leading efficiency. Our adjusted efficiency ratio was a low 37% in 2021. In 2022, we will continue to control expenses while investing in our strategic priorities to expand revenue, enhance the customer experience, and strengthen risk management, enduring growth and scalability. Put it all together, these factors will drive robust earnings growth and strong profitability in the coming years and beyond. Slide four presents a summary of our balance sheet. As of December 31st, 2021, total loans reached a record high of 41.7 billion, excluding Paycheck Protection Program loans. Total loans grew 1.5 billion, or 15% annualized from September 30th, 2021, and by 4.3 billion, or 12% year over year. Loan growth in 2021 was well balanced across CNI, residential mortgage and commercial real estate. On an average basis, fourth quarter total loans excluding PPP grew by 10% analyzed from the third quarter. Total deposit of 53.4 billion as of December 31st, 2021 were essentially unchanged from September 30th, 2021 and up by 8.5 billion, or 19% from a year ago, driven by strong growth in non-interest bearing demand deposits. On an average basis, fourth quarter total deposit grew by 6%, annualized from the third quarter. Turning to slide five, you can see our strong capital ratios, largely stable quarter over quarter. As of December 31st, 2021, We had a common equity tier one ratio of 12.8% and a total capital ratio of 14.1%, which provides us with meaningful capacity for future growth. Our book value per share increased 10.5% and our tangible equity per share increased 12% year over year. I'm pleased to announce that East-West Board of Directors approved a 21% increase to the quarterly common stock dividend from $0.33 per share to $0.40 per share, equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.60 per share. The new dividend will take effect beginning in the first quarter and is payable on February 22, 2022 to stockholders of record on February 7, 2022. Now, moving on to a discussion of our loan portfolio, beginning with slide six. CNI loans outstanding excluding PPP were a record 13.6 billion as of December 31st, 2021, an increase of 18% annualized from September 30, and up by 13% year over year. Total CNI commitments were 19.8 billion as of December 31st, also up 18 percent annualized sequentially and up 15 percent year over year. Quarter over quarter, our total CNI utilization was unchanged at 69 percent. By industry, we saw strong end-of-period net growth in the fourth quarter from private equity, entertainment, and general manufacturing on wholesale. Throughout the year, CNI growth for us has been diversified across our lending teams, geographies, and specialized verticals. From 2022, we expect that CNI growth will continue to be well diversified. In our outlook, we are assuming that current line utilization levels are unchanged. An improvement in utilization will provide upside to our current expectations. We're optimistic about a strengthening economy and demand in our markets, but cautious about the impact that the ongoing pandemic may have on near-term growth. Slide 7 and 8 shows the details of our commercial real estate portfolio, which is well diversified by geography and property type and consists of low loan-to-value loans. Total commercial real estate loans were $16.2 billion as of December 31st, 2021, up by 16% annualized from September 30, and up by 9% year over year. This quarter, we saw the strongest net growth by property type in multifamily mortgages and retail CRE. In slide nine, we provide details regarding our residential mortgage portfolio. which consists of single family mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Residential mortgage loans were $11.2 billion as of December 31st, 2021, growing by 9% annualized and up by 15% year-over-year. During the fourth quarter, we originated $1 billion of residential mortgage loan, which was up 4% quarter over quarter, and down 4% year over year. Originations for the full year of 2021 were 4.3 billion, an increase of 29% year over year. I will now turn the call over to Irene for a more detailed discussion of our asset quality and income statement. Irene.