Cathay General Bancorp (CATY), the holding company for Cathay Bank, reported Thursday a loss in the third quarter, reflecting primarily higher provision for credit losses, lower net interest income and increase in provision for Other Real estate Owned, or OREO, write-downs.
For the third quarter, net loss available to common stockholders was $21.76 million or $0.43 per share, compared to net income of $6.89 million or $0.14 per share in the same period previous year. On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report loss of $0.23 per share in the third quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Net interest income before loan loss provision for the period dipped 1.5% to $72.52 million from $73.60 million, chiefly due to higher interest expense paid for securities sold under agreements to repurchase. Seven analysts were expecting revenue of $77.98 million in the third quarter. Provision for credit losses swelled to $76.00 million from $15.80 million.
Non-interest income, which includes revenues from depository service fees, letters of credit commissions, securities gains or losses, gains or losses on loan sales, wire transfer fees, and other sources of fee income, was $10.28 million, compared to a loss of $8.37 million in the past year, primarily because the company recorded net securities gains of $2.88 million, compared to loss of $15.31 million a year ago.
Net loan charge-offs increased sharply to $57.0 million from $9.1 million in the third quarter of last year, reflecting the sustained weakness in the economy.
Non-interest expense increased 10.8% to $38.8 million from $35.0 million. Increases in OREO expense, and FDIC and State assessments were offset by decline in FDIC and State assessments, and expense from operations of affordable housing investments.
For the nine-month period, net loss available to common shareholders was $44.36 million or $0.89 per share, compared to net income of $53.42 million or $1.08 per share in the same period last year. Net interest income before provision for credit losses dipped to $208.94 million from $220.90 million in the same period of the prior fiscal year. Provision for credit losses rose sharply to $216.00 million from $43.80 million.
Peter Wu, Chief Operating Officer of Cathay General, said, "During the first nine months of the year, we had solid growth in total deposits, which increased by $874 million, or 13%, net of a $211 million reduction of brokered deposits, which helped us to improve our net loan to deposit ratio to 89.8% at September 30, 2009. We are especially pleased that our core deposits increased $533.9 million to $3.2 billion at September 30, 2009, equating to a 26.9% growth rate, if annualized,"
CATY is currently trading at $8.67, up $0.54 or 6.64%, on the NASDAQ.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.