UnionBanCal, East West Post Gains in Net Income

UnionBanCal Corp., the parent of Union Bank of California, reported 5% higher fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday, citing improved loan quality and fee income, while East West Bancorp Inc. of San Marino recorded a 30% jump in fourth-quarter profit, capping a year of growth.

San Francisco-based UnionBanCal, a major business lender, earned $151.9 million, or $1.02 a share, on revenue of $596 million. That’s up from $144.9 million, or 95 cents, on revenue of $585 million during the same period in 2002. Nonperforming assets fell from 0.84% of total assets at the end of 2002 to 0.68% on Dec. 31.

Union’s quarterly lending income fell by 3% to $392 million, but fee income rose nearly 13% to $204 million.

The bank’s chairman, Norimichi Kanari, said solid earnings and sluggish loan demand generated excess capital that the company returned to shareholders last year by repurchasing 8 million shares and raising the stock dividend 10.7%.

Fast-growing East West, which caters largely to Chinese American customers, earned $16.4 million, or 65 cents a share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up from $12.6 million, or 52 cents, a year earlier.

In a report scheduled for release early today, the parent of East West Bank said revenue also jumped by 30%, to $47.9 million from $36.8 million.

East West’s loans totaled $3.1 billion at year-end, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier, and its return on assets, a key performance indicator, rose to 1.67% from 1.55%.

Checking, savings and money-market deposits grew by 28% to $1.8 billion. The average interest rate the bank paid on those accounts and certificates of deposit fell from 1.46% in the fourth quarter of 2002 to 0.84% during the latest quarter.