Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, and welcome to the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Cathay General Bancorp. I would now like to introduce the first presenter, Dunson Cheng, Executive Chairman of the Board of the company.

Thank you very much. Good afternoon, and welcome to 2021 Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Cathay Bank -- sorry, Cathay General Bancorp. I am Dunson Cheng, Executive Chairman of the Board of the company and who'll preside at this meeting today. It is now shortly after 5 o'clock Pacific Time on May 17, and this meeting is officially called to order. Our Corporate Secretary Ms. May Chan will act secretary of the meeting. We are also being assisted today by Ms. [ Crystal Pauline ] from American Election Services, who will serve as the proxy tabulation agent and inspector of elections. I would like to introduce the directors that are joining us today. Mr. Nelson Chung, our lead Independent Director; Kelly Chan, Chairman of the Audit Committee; Mr. Felix Fernandez, Chairman of the Investment Committee; Mr. Joe Poon, Chairman of the Nomination and Governance Committee; Mr. Richard Sun, Chairman of the Compensation Committee; Ms. Maan-Huei Hung and Mr. Michael Chang, Mr. Michael Chang's term will expire at this meeting. With profound regret, the Board was informed that Mr. Chang has chosen not to stand for another term. Mr. Chang joined our Board in 1983 and have served in every committee of the Board. I wish to express my deep appreciation to Mr. Chang for his contributions. And now I would like to introduce the current directors and this year's Director nominees today. Ms. Jane Jelenko, Chairwoman of Risk Committee; Mr. Tony Tang, Vice Chairman of the Board; Mr. Peter Wu, also Vice Chairman of the Board; Shally Wang, who is not currently a director but a director nominee; Mr. Chang Liu, President of -- CEO of the company. We have 3 executive officers that are here today. Mr. Heng Chen, EVP and Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Kim Bingham, EVP and Chief Risk Officer; Mr. Mark Lee, EVP and Chief Credit Officer of the bank. And we are also joined by representatives of KPMG, our independent auditor and Ben Chung of Morrison & Foerster, the company's SEC Counsel. And now I would like to turn the floor to our President and CEO, Mr. Chang Liu, to proceed to the business of the meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before we go further, I want to remind everyone that we may make forward-looking statements during this meeting. Actual results can differ materially and you should refer to our filings with the SEC for factors that could cause such results to differ. The secretary of the meeting will now report on the mailing of notice of this meeting in the presence of a quorum.

Thank you, Mr. President. The meeting is held pursuant to notice mailed on April 15, 2021, to each stockholder of record as of April 1, 2021. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting is available for examination. It has also been on file at the office of the company for the last 10 days and available for examination by any stockholder during ordinary business hours. I've been advised by the inspector of elections that immediately prior to the commencement of the meeting, 84.49% of the company's issued and outstanding shares of common stock are represented in person or by proxy at today's meeting. Since a majority of the company's outstanding shares of common stock is represented today in person or by proxy, a quorum is present. The meeting is duly constituted and the business of the meeting may proceed.

Thank you. I now declare that there's a quorum for the transaction of business and ask the secretary to insert the notice of the meeting and the affidavit of mailing of the notice in the minute book of the company. If any stockholder would like to make a comment or ask a question regarding any of the proposals to be voted upon, please submit your comment or question through the web portal now. Mr. Secretary, please present before the meeting, the proposals to be voted on today.

Thank you. Proposal 1 is the election of full Class I directors to serve until the 2024 annual meeting of Stockholders and 1 Class II Director to service until the 2022 annual meeting of Stockholders and their successors have been elected and qualified. To rebalance the classes of Directors, Mr. Liu, whose term as a Class I director expires at this 2021 annual meeting has been nominated to become a Class II Director. And if elected, he'll serve for the remainder of the Class II term, which will expire next year at our 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The Board nominees for Class I directors are: Jane Jelenko; Anthony M. Tang; Shally Wang; and Peter Wu. The Board nominee for Class II Director is Chang M. Liu. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that you vote for each nominee. Proposal 2 is to vote for an advisory nonbinding resolution to approve our executive compensation disclosed in the proxy statement. The Board of Directors unanimously recommends that we vote for this proposal. Proposal #3 is to ratify the appointment of KPMG LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year. The Board of Directors unanimously recommend that you vote for this proposal.

Thank you. If there are any remaining questions, comments regarding any of the proposals, please submit them now, if you have not done so already. Seeing that there are no more questions or comments, we will now proceed to voting. [Voting]

It is 5:08 Pacific Time on May 17, 2021, and the polls are now open. Any stockholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change their vote may do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions there. Stockholders who have already mailed in their proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their vote, do not need to take any further action. Now that everyone has had an opportunity to vote. I now declare the polls closed at 5:09 Pacific Time on May 17, 2021. Ms. Secretary, please present a report of the preliminary voting results.

Thanks, President. Proposal 1, election of directors. Under the election of directors, I've been advised by the inspector of elections that each nominee has received a majority of the votes. Accordingly, Jane Jelenko, Anthony M. Tang, Shally Wang and Peter Wu have been elected as Class I directors to serve until the 2024 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. And Chang M. Liu has been elected as a Class 2 Director to serve until the 2022 annual meeting of Stockholders and their successors have been elected and qualified. Proposal to executive compensation. On the advisory known binding resolution to approve our executive compensation disclosed in the proxy statement, it has received an affirmative vote of holders of the majority of the shares of Bancorp's common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting. Accordingly, the advisory nonbinding resolution on our executive compensation has been approved. Proposal 3, KPMG ratification. With respect to the ratifying of the appointment of KPMG, it has received an affirmative vote of the holders of the majority of the shares of Bancorp's common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting. Accordingly, the appointment of KPMG as our independent and registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year has been ratified. The inspection of the elections will furnish me as Secretary with the original report of the final vote count with respect to the matters voted on today, which shall be included in the minutes of the meeting.

There have been no further business to come before the meeting, the formal part of the stockholders' meeting is now adjourned. Our Executive Chairman will now say a few words on our incoming board leadership.

Thank you. Mr. Liu. Before I do that, I was missed not recognizing another senior officer in the meeting that is Mr. [ Chang M. Liu, ] Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. As you have heard from the results of the shareholders' votes, we have a new Board member. I want to welcome Mr. Shally Wang to our Board, and we look forward to working with her in years to come. I will now turn the floor back to Mr. Liu to conclude this meeting.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to provide a brief overview of the company's performance this past year. For 2020, we reported a net income of $228.9 million and earnings of $2.87 per diluted share. Gross loans increased by 3.8% or $568.9 million to $15.6 billion, primarily a result of Paycheck Protection Program loans and commercial mortgage loans. Net charge-offs remained low at 0.09%. Total deposits grew 9.6% or $1.4 billion to $16.1 billion. As of December 31, 2020, total assets increased by 5.2% to $19 billion. Undoubtedly, it was an unprecedented year with challenges of a global pandemic, economic upheaval, political turmoil and social injustice. While some sectors have been hit hard but the industries have remained resilient. Our capital remains strong and well-capitalized under the Basel III capital rules. Cathay Bank has consistently placed as 1 of the top 20 banks listed under Forbes Best Bank in America. We will continue to thrive for effective credit quality management, improvement in operational efficiency and maximization of shareholder value. One of the few bright spots about pandemic is that it can review what you are truly made of. For us, it has shown that we have the people and financial strength to continue to serve our customers well under extraordinary circumstances. In October of last year, the Board entrusted me with the President and CEO position. I have profound respect for the work and foundation built by my predecessors, and I will do my utmost to carry on this legacy. Thank you for continuing to join us along this journey and for attending this year's annual stockholders meeting.

Thank you. The 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Cathay General Bancorp has now come to an end. Thank you for attending. We may now leave the virtual meeting.