East West Nearly Doubles Profit

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East West Bancorp Inc. increased its second quarter profit by 95 percent as the Pasadena bank holding increased deposits and took fewer charge-offs for bad loans.

After the markets closed Wednesday, the parent of East West Bank reported quarterly net income of $58.8 million (39 cents per share) compared with $30.2 million (21 cents) a year earlier. Net interest income before provision for loan losses rose nearly 12 percent to $227 million. Noninterest income was down 65 percent to $12.5 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters on average expected the company to report per-share profit of 37 cents.

Total deposits rose 15 percent to a record $17.1 billion. Net charge-offs were down 8 percent from the previous quarter and 43 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Nonperforming assets dropped 4 percent to less than 1 percent of total assets.

The bank now estimates earnings per share for the full year will range from $1.52 to $1.54 per share, up 83 to 86 percent from last year.

“Although the operating environment for banks remains challenging, East West continues to grow market share, increase revenue, and improve profitability,” Chief Executive Dominic Ng said in a statement. “Our second quarter performance demonstrated that we are on track with all of our strategic initiatives.”

Shares on Thursday were up 50 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $20.17 in midday trading on the Nasdaq.

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