Prepared remarks
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Hanmi Financial Corporation Second Quarter 2026 Conference Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded for replay purposes. I would now like to turn the call over to Ben Brodkowitz, Investor Relations for the company. Please go ahead.
Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us today to discuss Hanmi's second quarter 2026 results. This afternoon, Hanmi issued its earnings release and quarterly supplemental slide presentation to accompany today's call. Both documents are available in the IR section of the company's website at hanmi.com. I'm here today with Bonnie Lee, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hanmi Financial Corporation; Anthony Kim, Chief Banking Officer; and Ron Santarosa, Chief Financial Officer. Bonnie will begin today's call with an overview. Anthony will discuss loan and deposit activities. Ron will provide details on our financial performance, and then Bonnie will provide closing comments before we open the call up for your questions. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that today's comments may include forward-looking statements under the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are based on current plans, expectations, events and financial industry trends that may affect the company's future operating results and financial position. Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by our forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties. Discussion of the factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements can be found in our SEC filings, including our reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. In particular, we direct you to the discussion of certain risk factors affecting our business contained in our earnings release, our investor presentation and in our Form 10-Q. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Bonnie Lee. Bonnie, please go ahead.
Thank you, Ben, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to discuss Hanmi's second quarter 2026 results. Hanmi delivered another quarter of a strong financial performance, driven by solid earnings growth, expanding customer relationships, disciplined execution and excellent credit quality. Our results reflect the continued momentum across the franchise. We generated healthy loan production, strengthened our deposit base, further diversified the loan portfolio and maintained strong asset quality. Combined with disciplined expense management, these efforts translate into higher earnings and improved profitability. Importantly, we continue to create value for shareholders while preserving capital strength. During the quarter, we returned 58% of earnings through dividends and share repurchases while further improving profitability metrics. Return on average assets increased to 1.2% and return on average equity improved to 11.1%. Taken together, these results demonstrate the resilience of our business model, the strength of our customer relationships and our ability to execute consistently in a dynamic operating environment. Now turning to some highlights for the quarter. Net income increased to $23.5 million or $0.79 per diluted share compared to $22.6 million or $0.75 per diluted share last quarter. Net interest income increased 1% sequentially. While net interest margin declined modestly by 2 basis points to 3.36%, excluding the impact of the San Francisco Federal Home Loan Bank dividend policy change, margin would have been slightly higher. Deposits grew 2.3% linked quarter, driven by a 5.2% increase in noninterest-bearing accounts, led by growth in commercial accounts. Noninterest-bearing deposits increased to 31% of total deposits, reflecting the strength and quality of our funding base. New loan originations totaled $372 million. While production was slightly lower than the prior quarter, year-to-date originations are up 11% compared with the first half of 2025. We remain encouraged by the strength of our loan pipeline. Historically, loan activity has accelerated during the second half of the year, and we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on that trend. Our portfolio diversification strategy continues to gain traction. Commercial and industrial loans increased 1.6% sequentially and 28% year-over-year, now representing 18% of our total loans. Our efficiency ratio of 54% reflects continued operating discipline and a strong focus on driving productivity throughout the organization. We continue to maintain excellent credit quality with our disciplined underwriting standards and active portfolio management. Our conservative risk culture continues to serve us well. Nonperforming loans improved to 0.15% of total loans and nonperforming assets improved to 0.12% of total assets, underscoring the quality of our loan portfolio and effectiveness of our risk management framework. Turning to the Corporate Korea initiative. Our Corporate Korea strategy continues to generate meaningful results. The investments we have made in specialized bankers and targeted client coverage are translating into deeper customer relationships, stronger engagement and growing business activity. Deposits from Corporate Korea clients increased 6.2% during the quarter to $1.2 billion, reaching an all-time high of approximately 17% of total deposits. Loan balances grew to $826 million, representing 13% of the total loan portfolio. This initiative remains a significant growth opportunity and a meaningful differentiator for Hanmi. Last, I would like to speak to capital and shareholder returns. Strong earnings and disciplined balance sheet management drove additional improvement in our capital position. At the same time, we returned $13.6 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Our capital strengths allow us to pursue growth opportunities, invest in the franchise and continue delivering attractive shareholder returns. I'll now turn the call over to Anthony Kim, our Chief Banking Officer, to discuss loan production and deposit trends in greater detail. Anthony?
Thank you, Bonnie, and thank you for joining us today. I'll begin by providing additional details on our loan production. Second quarter loan production was $372 million, down $6 million or 1.6% from the prior quarter with a weighted average interest rate of 6.59% compared to 6.54% last quarter. The decrease in loan production was primarily due to a decline in C&I, SBA and equipment finance, which was partially offset by an increase in CRE and residential. We maintain a disciplined underwriting framework, engaging only in opportunities that are consistent with our conservative underwriting principles. C&I production was $89 million with Corporate Korea representing $22 million or 25% of total C&I loan production. C&I loan balances grew 1.6% from the prior quarter and 27.6% from the same period a year ago. Additionally, C&I loans have grown to 18% of total loan portfolio from 14% one year ago. This growth reflects our investment in C&I talent, the continued traction of our U.S.-Korea corporate initiative and the successful execution of our strategy to broaden the portfolio. CRE production was $171 million, an increase of $39 million or 29.4%. CRE loans remain 61% of our total loans. We remain pleased with the quality of our CRE portfolio. It has a weighted average loan-to-value ratio of approximately 47% and a weighted average debt service coverage ratio of 2.2x. SBA loan production declined $4 million from the prior quarter to $37 million, slightly below historical levels. However, our pipeline indicates a pickup in production in the third quarter, underscoring the strength of our recent investment in talent and the momentum we are generating with small business clients across our markets. During the quarter, we sold approximately $21 million of SBA loans. Total commitments for our commercial lines of credit were $1.4 billion in the second quarter, up 2.7% from the previous quarter. Outstanding balances decreased by 3%, resulting in a utilization rate of 40%, down from 43% in the prior quarter. Residential mortgage loan production was $50 million for the second quarter, up 72% or $21 million from the previous quarter. Residential mortgage loans represent approximately 15% of our total loan portfolio, consistent with the previous quarter. We sold $31 million of residential mortgages during the second quarter, resulting in a gain on sale of $0.4 million. We'll continue to evaluate additional sales contingent on market conditions. Corporate Korea accounted for $31 million of total loan production. U.S.-Korea corporate loan balances were $826 million, up $8 million or 1% from the prior quarter and represent approximately 12.6% of our total loan portfolio. Turning to deposits. In the second quarter, deposits increased 2.3% from the prior quarter, driven primarily by growth in noninterest-bearing deposits and a modest increase in interest-bearing demand deposits. Deposit balances for Corporate Korea customers increased by $70 million or 6%, surpassing $1.2 billion. At quarter end, Corporate Korea deposits represented 17% of both total deposits and demand deposits. The composition of our deposit base remained stable, reflecting the strength of our relationship banking model. At the end of the second quarter, noninterest-bearing deposits remained healthy at roughly 31% of total bank deposits. Turning to asset quality, which remains strong with most metrics improving from the prior quarter. Nonperforming loans declined 20% to 0.15% of total loans from 0.19% in the prior quarter, and nonperforming assets declined 20% to 0.12% of total assets from 0.16% in the prior quarter. During the quarter, delinquencies increased due to a $21.2 million CRE credit that was previously identified and downgraded in the prior quarter. The loan was subsequently moved from special mention to classified once it became delinquent. The bank commissioned an appraisal and a property condition report and found the collateral to be in good condition. As a result, the bank is well secured on this loan. Credit trends continue to be strong, and we view this loan as an isolated situation. This proactive approach reflects Hanmi's disciplined underwriting and risk management practices, which prioritize early identification of potential issues and timely actions to maximize recovery. And now I'll hand the call over to Romolo Santarosa, our Chief Financial Officer, for more details on our second quarter financial results.
Thank you, Anthony, and good afternoon. Net interest income for the second quarter increased 1% from the first quarter to $63.9 million, while net interest margin declined 2 basis points to 3.36%. The decline in margin was largely driven by a change in dividend practices at FHLB San Francisco, which reduced second quarter interest income by approximately $612,000 or about 3 basis points. Excluding that, underlying margin performance was essentially stable. The core driver of earnings remained strong. Average interest-earning assets grew 1.1%. Average deposits increased 2.7%. Loan yields held steady at 5.9%, and we further reduced the cost of interest-bearing deposits to 3.17%. Importantly, interest-bearing deposit costs remained stable so far in July, and loan origination yields have been consistent over the past two quarters. Based on those trends and assuming no changes in Federal Reserve policy, we expect net interest margin to remain stable through the balance of the year. Noninterest income was $8.3 million. Results were primarily affected by lower SBA loan sales volume compared with the first quarter, partially offset by growth in trade finance and other service fee income. During the second quarter, Hanmi sold $20.6 million of SBA loans at an average premium of 7.92%, demonstrating continued strength in our SBA platform. Noninterest expense increased 1.7% to $39 million, principally due to higher salaries and benefits and the absence of the gain on the sale of OREO recognized in the first quarter. Even with that increase, operating efficiency remained a key strength with an efficiency ratio of 54.1% and noninterest expense representing 1.99% of average assets on an annualized basis. As Bonnie and Anthony said, credit quality remains excellent. Delinquencies, criticized loans, nonperforming assets all remained at favorable levels, while net charge-offs were minimal. As a result, credit loss expense was only $1.2 million. Our capital position remains strong. Tangible common equity per share increased 1.8% to $27.04, and the tangible common equity ratio was 10.03%. Hanmi also continued to return capital to shareholders, distributing $13.2 million through dividends and share repurchases. During the quarter, we repurchased 160,000 shares at an average price of $30.24 and 1.99 million shares remain available under our current authorization. With that, I will now turn it back to Bonnie.
Thank you, Ron. As we look ahead, we remain constructive on the operating environment. While geopolitical uncertainty warrants monitoring, the broader economy continues to be supported by positive growth, low unemployment and healthy business activity. More importantly, we entered the second half of 2026 from a position of strength. Building on our strong first half performance, healthy loan and deposit pipelines and continued momentum across the franchise, we remain optimistic about our outlook, and we are confident in our ability to generate continued earnings growth and deliver attractive returns for shareholders. Our priorities for the remainder of 2026 include: drive profitable loan growth while continuing portfolio diversification. We expect low to mid-single-digit loan growth for the year and we'll continue expanding relationships across targeted commercial lending segments. Further strengthen our funding franchise: growing our core deposits remains a top priority. We will continue deepening relationships with existing customers, winning new clients and increasing our mix of noninterest-bearing deposits. Maintain disciplined expense management: we'll invest selectively in talent, technology and growth initiatives while maintaining a strong focus on productivity and operating efficiencies. Preserve our strong credit culture: conservative underwriting, proactive risk management and disciplined portfolio oversight will remain central to our strategy. In closing, Hanmi's performance this quarter reflects the strength of our franchise, the dedication of our team and the trust our customers place in us every day. We are enthusiastic about the opportunities ahead and remain focused on delivering sustainable growth, strong profitability and long-term shareholder value. Thank you for your continued support. We'll now open the call to answer your questions. Operator, please go ahead.
Questions and answers
Our first question is from Matthew Clark with Piper Sandler.
This is Adam Kroll on for Matthew Clark. So maybe starting on the loan growth, I appreciate the low to mid-single-digit guide for the year. And it looks like you had solid loan production during the quarter. I could see the breakdown in the deck showed that CRE was a bigger driver than it has been in the past few quarters. So I guess I'm curious, going forward, what segments you see being the primary drivers of the growth in the back half of the year?
So looking into the second half of the year, we do think that C&I growth will continue to be the driver along with a portion coming from the Commercial Real Estate segment.
Okay. Got it. And on the Corporate Korea initiative specifically, it looks like there was some modest loan growth this quarter, but I'm just curious what you're hearing from your borrowers there. And if you're seeing any early indications of a more significant recovery in loan demand among those clients?
Yes. Talking to the customers, because of ongoing economic uncertainty, rising energy costs and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, they're still cautious about utilizing the line and making investments. However, we are seeing an influx of deposits coming in, in preparation for investing in additional activity in the U.S. So to answer your question, they're pretty cautious and that caused our line utilization rate to be lower than the previous quarter.
I appreciate the color there. And last one for me. I was just wondering on the retail CRE loan that moved to 30 to 89 days past due. I think on the last call, you mentioned there was a loss of a major tenant, but you didn't see any loss from a credit perspective. So just wanted to get your updated thoughts there.
Yes. You're right. Last quarter, we moved the loan to the special mention category due to the loss of the anchor tenant. Subsequent to that, this quarter the loan became past due, so we further downgraded the loan to classified. However, we have obtained an updated appraisal report as well as the property condition report, and we feel the property is well collateralized at this point.
Our next question is from Kelly Motta with KBW.
I thought I'd maybe kick it off with deposits. It looks like at least on a spot-to-spot basis, the noninterest-bearing growth is really strong. Wondering if you could provide if there was any sort of end-of-quarter volatility in that that we should be aware of? And how you guys are thinking about the deposit pipeline shaping up off this level?
Yes. We've been very happy to see the deposit growth, particularly the noninterest-bearing deposit growth. We expect to see the same trend going forward, particularly coming from the U.S.-Korea corporate customer base. Within the second quarter, commercial noninterest-bearing demand deposit accounts contributed meaningfully. We still have a strong pipeline coming from the DDA customer base. There are always fluctuations from existing accounts, but we continue to see new accounts outpacing closures and a net positive increase from DDA balances, particularly from our existing customer base.
Got it. I'm seeing they are up by just over $100 million. So you're saying that's all kind of sticking with you here? Or is there a one-off spot that we should adjust as we think about the average balances?
No, I don't think there's a one-off exception. As I said, it's a contribution of a net existing customer balance increase as well as continued new account growth.
Okay. Got you. All right. And then just moving to close the loop on the last question on the movement between special mention and the downgrade there. Your provision came in pretty low. Running it through, it seems like there's not an expectation of loss. I just wanted to get some thoughts around that.
Overall, our asset quality metrics continue to improve. This quarter, in particular, we had much lower net charge-offs than the prior quarter. All in all, we feel very comfortable with our ACL coverage at 1.08% relative to our loan portfolio.
Okay. Got it. Maybe turning to expenses. They were relatively flat, up slightly. Looking toward the back half of the year, how are you thinking about potential puts and takes off this $39 million number?
I believe, Kelly, expenses should behave in and around that same run rate. There's really nothing on the horizon that would suggest an upward trend. Major items occurred already in April; health insurance adjustments occurred in January. So the major elements that push the number, primarily labor, are already in our numbers. I would anticipate essentially the same run rates.
Our next question is from Kelly Motta from KBW.
I figured I would jump back in here and keep asking about the margin provided there's nobody left in here. Ron, you had said you expect a pretty stable margin from here. Can you walk through—your deck has some good color on CD maturities. I'm assuming that you're probably reaching closer to the point where there's diminishing returns from the roll of that book. Any color on that? And then it looks like money market and savings costs went up and how you guys are thinking about the incremental dollar of new funding here?
Sure. As I said in our prepared remarks, the July interest-bearing deposit cost average for the month is spot on to the average for the quarter. So the relief from CD roll-off, if I want to use that word, will be present in the third quarter, but it will contribute very nominally to interest-bearing deposit costs broadly. Competitive pressures may cause a 1 or 2 basis point push in savings and money market rates. I sense those could be potentially offsetting. So we end up in about the same place. Again, I'm assuming no policy moves, just market competition. Assuming that, we're not sensing any particular need for short-term borrowings to balance the balance sheet. Loan yields have been holding steady on a portfolio level. Origination yields continue to be above the average. So I just see a lot of push and pull, but taking us back to about where we are. That's why I believe margin could be steady as we finish out the second half of the year.
So kind of putting those together, I guess it seems like there could even be a bias higher to margin if the funding costs are relatively steady, you don't need to use borrowings, and the loan yields are still coming in above the portfolio yield. Is that the right way to think about it, or am I missing a piece?
If I could with a smile on my very optimistic morning, sipping my coffee, I can see it going up 1 to 3 basis points. And then maybe by the evening, I can start to see it go down by 1 to 3 basis points. So it keeps circling around the same idea. It just depends on how much emphasis you may want to put on one event or several events. But as I pull back, I keep seeing events with equal potential to bias upward or downward, but all within a very narrow range that could cancel each other out. I do not know how the dice will be rolled when we get to the end of the third quarter. So I've concluded it should behave somewhat stably.
Our next question is from Matthew Clark with Piper Sandler.
Just a follow-up for me. I think you mentioned an expectation for SBA production to pick up in the back half. So I was just curious how you think about SBA gain on sale and overall core fee income in the back half of the year?
So in terms of SBA production, I think we are getting back to the normal run rate of production of around $45 million per quarter. In the second quarter, some loans we were working on got pushed to the third quarter. So I think production will resume, and premium income should actually revert back to our historical trend.
Thank you. We have no further questions in the queue at this time. I will now turn the call back to Ms. Bonnie Lee for concluding remarks.
Thank you for joining our call today. We appreciate your interest in Hanmi and look forward to sharing our progress with you throughout the year.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. Please disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.