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COPYRIGHT 2003 Adams Business Media
(EWBC:NASDAQ
RECOMMENDATION: BUY
INDUSTRY: BANKING
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
East West Bancorp is a publicly owned company with $3.5 billion in assets. The company's wholly-owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is the third largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. East West Bank serves the community with 38 branches throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Alameda, San Francisco. Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, and with a representative office in Beijing. China. It is also one of the largest financial institutions in the nation focusing on the Chinese-American community.
KEY POINTS
* Management reports Q1 preliminary EPS of $0.47 to $0.48.
* Reaffirms 2003 earnings of $2.25 to $2.30.
* Recently closed Pacific Business Bank acquisition could add $0.04 to $0.06 to 2003 EPS.
* Net interest margin expected to reach 4.0% for quarter, up from 3.78% in Q4.
* Fee income should show mild sequential progression
* Operating expenses up modestly from seasonal factors
* Expected increase in the tax rate to 37% to 38%
* Maintaining BUY and $41.50 Target Price
OUR COMMENTS
East West Bancorp released preliminary earnings projections for the March quarter of $0.47 to $0.48, a penny or two ahead of our estimate, but below the Street consensus of $0.50. For...
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