Executive Summary

Q4 2024 delivered solid top-line with total revenue $675.8M (+3% q/q, +3% y/y) and diluted EPS $2.10; net income was $293.1M. Net interest income rose 3% q/q to $587.6M while NIM held flat at 3.24% .
Asset quality remained stable but net charge-offs increased to $64M (0.48% annualized) driven by two unrelated domestic tech C&I credits; ALLL ended at $702M (1.31% of loans) and NPAs were steady at 0.26% of assets .
Deposits grew $1.5B q/q to $63.2B (DDA 24%); period-end deposit costs fell to 2.59% and interest-bearing deposit costs declined 49 bps in 2H24, supporting NII momentum .
FY25 guidance: loans +4–6% y/y, NII +4–6%, total revenue +5–7%, operating noninterest expense +7–9%, NCOs 25–35 bps, tax rate 21–23%; board raised quarterly dividend 9% to $0.60 and added $300M buyback authorization .
Versus consensus: Q4 EPS modest miss (actual $2.10 vs $2.12) while revenue beat ($675.8M vs $658.2M). S&P Global consensus data was unavailable due to rate limit; public sources used for context .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Deposit-led growth with lower funding costs: average and end-of-period deposits rose; period-end deposit costs declined to 2.59% and IB deposit costs fell materially in 2H24 aiding NII growth. “Our period-end total deposit costs declined a further 25 basis points in the fourth quarter to 2.59%” .
Record fee income for the year with strength in wealth management, FX, lending and deposit account fees; fourth-quarter FX income rose q/q .
Capital strength and shareholder returns: CET1 14.28%, total capital 15.59%, dividend increased 9% and new $300M buyback authorization; 200K shares repurchased in Q4 .

What Went Wrong

Net charge-offs rose to $64M in Q4 (0.48% annualized), linked to two domestic tech C&I credits with noncollectible collateral/AR; provision increased to $70M .
Efficiency ratio ticked up to 36.9% from 34.3% in Q3 due to higher operating noninterest expense (incl. net OREO write-downs); management expects elevated spend for people and technology in 2025 .
Average loan yield and yield on interest-earning assets declined q/q (6.50% and 5.84%, respectively), reflecting rate dynamics and hedge drag ($18M impact to NII, ~10 bps to NIM in Q4) .

Financial Results

Core P&L and EPS vs prior periods and estimates

Metric	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Total Revenue ($M)	$638	$657.1	$675.8
Net Interest Income ($M)	$553.0	$572.7	$587.6
Noninterest Income ($M)	$77.0 fee income (record)	$84.4	$88.2
Net Income ($M)	$288.0	$299.2	$293.1
Diluted EPS ($)	$2.06	$2.14	$2.10
Efficiency Ratio (%)	—	34.34	36.92
NIM (%)	3.27	3.24	3.24
Effective Tax Rate (%)	—	23.16	17.62

Q4 vs Consensus (context; S&P Global unavailable, public sources cited):

Metric	Actual Q4 2024	Consensus Q4 2024	Surprise
Diluted EPS ($)	$2.10	$2.12	-$0.02 (−0.9%)
Total Revenue ($M)	$675.8	$658.2	+$17.6M (+2.7%)

Segment/Portfolio Breakdown

Loans HFI by category (period-end):

Category ($M)	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	q/q %
C&I	$17,068.0	$17,397.2	+1.9%
CRE (ex. Multifamily)	$14,568.2	$14,655.3	+0.6%
Multifamily	$5,141.5	$4,953.4	−3.7%
Construction & Land	$693.8	$666.2	−4.0%
Single-family Residential	$13,963.1	$14,175.4	+1.5%
HELOCs	$1,760.7	$1,811.6	+2.9%
Other consumer	$57.9	$67.5	+16.5%
Total Loans HFI	$53,253.2	$53,726.6	+0.9%

Deposits by product (period-end):

Product ($M)	Q3 2024	Q4 2024	q/q %
Noninterest-bearing Demand (DDA)	$14,690.9	$15,450.4	+5.2%
Interest-bearing Checking	$8,052.7	$7,940.7	−1.4%
Money Market	$14,021.0	$14,816.5	+5.7%
Savings	$1,718.4	$1,751.6	+1.9%
Time	$23,217.1	$23,215.8	0.0%
Total Deposits	$61,700.1	$63,175.0	+2.4%

KPIs and Credit Metrics

KPI	Q2 2024	Q3 2024	Q4 2024
Loan-to-Deposit Ratio (%)	—	86.31	85.04
Average cost of deposits (%)	—	2.98	2.75
Avg. cost of IB deposits (%)	—	3.93	3.63
Avg. loan yield (%)	6.67 (YTD)	6.73	6.50
Criticized loans / loans HFI (%)	—	2.08	2.18
NPA / total assets (%)	—	0.26	0.26
Annualized NCOs / avg loans HFI (%)	0.18	0.22	0.48
Allowance for Loan Losses ($M)	—	$696.5	$702.1

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
End-of-Period Loans Growth	FY 2025	—	4%–6% y/y	New
Net Interest Income Growth	FY 2025	—	4%–6% y/y	New
Total Revenue Growth	FY 2025	—	5%–7% y/y	New
Operating Noninterest Expense Growth	FY 2025	—	7%–9% y/y	New
Net Charge-offs	FY 2025	—	25–35 bps	New
Effective Tax Rate	FY 2025	—	21%–23%	New
Dividend	Q1 2025	$0.55	$0.60 (+9%)	Raised
Share Repurchase Authorization	Current	$29M remaining (pre-new)	+$300M new; $329M total available	Raised

Note: FY24 outlook from Q3 was NII −2% to −4% for the year; FY25 introduces new growth guidance framework .

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Topic	Q2 2024 (Prior-2)	Q3 2024 (Prior-1)	Q4 2024 (Current)	Trend
Deposit costs & betas	Deposit costs rising; NIM compression expected; Lunar CD specials at ~5.25% discussed	End-of-period total deposit costs down; guiding ~50% beta; further declines since quarter-end	Period-end deposit cost 2.59%; mgmt reiterates ~50% beta; CD specials at 4.18%/4.08% launched	Improving funding costs
Hedging impact	Cash/securities repositioning; hedges discussed in forward look	Swaps rolling off in Q1’25; positive NII runway (>+$10M)	Hedge drag ~$18M NII (10 bps NIM) in Q4; $1B swaps rolled off Jan/Feb; half of hedge impact alleviated	Headwind abating
CRE exposure and credit	Focus on granular CRE; office allowances increased; vigilant on maturities	CRE balances flat/down; low LTVs; short-end rates more relevant; careful renewals	Credit benign overall; Q4 NCOs from two tech C&I credits; NPAs stable; reserve appropriate	Stable overall; isolated C&I issues
Fee income growth	Record fee income; broad-based strength (FX, WM)	Record fee income again; sustainability anchored in sales execution	Record full-year fee income; FX up; lending fees softer; WM −$1M q/q	Strong, some quarterly mix shifts
Tariffs/macro	Client sentiment cautious; rate path key	Tariffs largely unimpactful; clients reorganized supply chains	Similar stance; modest economic growth assumed; 50 bps Fed cuts in 2025	Neutral impact expected
Tech investments/Category 4 prep	Ongoing investments in people/tech	Efficiency best-in-class; expense growth for platform build	2025 opex +7–9% tied to people/IT; efficiency still best-in-class	Elevated spend to scale

Management Commentary

“Our period-end total deposit costs declined a further 25 basis points in the fourth quarter to 2.59%... we expect good retention and potentially good traction on new money inflows” — CFO Christopher Del Moral‑Niles .
“In the fourth quarter, our total hedges cost us $18 million of net interest income or 10 basis points to NIM... maturities will alleviate approximately half of our negative hedge impact” — CFO .
“Provision for credit losses increased $28 million… net charge-offs… largely stemmed from 2 domestic C&I credits… both loans… in the technology sector” — CRO Irene Oh .
“We are pleased to announce an incremental $300 million of share repurchase authorization… and a 9% increase in our common stock dividend” — CEO Dominic Ng .

Q&A Highlights

Expenses and efficiency: Opex growth to support scale/technology; efficiency remains best-in-class though may drift modestly; focus on ROE/ROA over headline ratio .
Capital return philosophy: Opportunistic buybacks (price-driven) while preserving strong capital; new $300M authorization adds flexibility .
Deposit repricing cadence: ~$10B CDs reprice in Q1 and ~$7–8B in Q2; specials at 4.18% (6M) and 4.08% (9M) vs. 5.25% in 2024; supports lower costs through cycle .
Loan growth outlook: Expect pickup in C&I later in 2025 as sentiment improves; commitments up 5% y/y (9% y/y on some measures), pipelines healthy; CRE growth muted .
Funding/liquidity: $1B of floating FHLB due later in Q1; deposits from CD campaign guide paydown vs. roll decisions; maintain strong liquidity .

Estimates Context

S&P Global consensus estimates were unavailable due to rate limit at the time of request.
Public consensus context: EPS $2.12 and revenue $658.2M ahead of Q4; actual EPS $2.10 (miss) and revenue $675.8M (beat). Result: EPS −0.9%, revenue +2.7% vs consensus .

Key Takeaways for Investors

Deposit costs are inflecting lower with ~50% beta through the easing cycle; combined with hedge roll-offs, this supports stable-to-improving NII and NIM into 1H25 despite rate cuts .
Credit normalizing but manageable: Q4 NCOs were isolated to two tech C&I credits; reserves adequate and NPAs stable; monitor criticized loan migration (up to 2.18%) .
Capital optionality: CET1 14.28% and TCE 9.60% underpin dividend raise and $300M buyback flexibility; repurchases expected to be opportunistic .
Mix shift continues: Residential mortgage and C&I are growth engines; CRE (ex-multifamily) remains contained; loan growth guided at 4–6% for FY25 .
Fee income momentum: Wealth management, FX, cash management are scaling; durability rests on sales execution and market conditions; record FY fee income achieved .
Near-term trading: Expect modestly positive reaction to revenue beat and improving funding costs; EPS miss was slight and largely offset by constructive 2025 outlook and capital returns .
Medium-term thesis: Deposit-led growth, fee diversification, disciplined credit, and strong capital should support mid-single-digit revenue growth and top-quartile returns through FY25 .

EAST WEST BANCORP INC (EWBC)·Q4 2024 Earnings Summary