East West Bancorp Inc (EWBC) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the East West Bancorp Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note, this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎來到 East West Bancorp 第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Julianna Balicka, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想將會議轉交給投資者關係總監 Julianna Balicka。請繼續。

Thank you, Vaishnavi. Good morning, and thank you, everyone, for joining East West Bancorp's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Earnings Call with Dominic Ng, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; and Irene Oh, our Chief Financial Officer. This call is being recorded and will be available for replay on our Investor Relations website.

謝謝你，Vaishnavi。早上好，感謝大家與我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Dominic Ng 一起參加 East West Bancorp 的第四季度和 2022 年全年收益電話會議；和我們的首席財務官 Irene Oh。此通話正在錄音中，可以在我們的投資者關係網站上重播。

During their remarks, Dominic and Irene will reference a slide deck that is available on our Investor Relations site. Management may make projections or other forward-looking statements, which may differ materially from the actual results due to a number of risks and uncertainties, and management may discuss non-GAAP financial measures. For a more detailed descriptions of the risk factors and a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures, please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K filed today.

在他們的評論中，多米尼克和艾琳將參考我們投資者關係網站上提供的幻燈片。管理層可能會做出預測或其他前瞻性陳述，由於存在多種風險和不確定性，這些預測或其他前瞻性陳述可能與實際結果存在重大差異，並且管理層可能會討論非 GAAP 財務措施。有關風險因素的更詳細描述以及 GAAP 與非 GAAP 財務指標的調節，請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括今天提交的 8-K 表格。

I will now turn the call over to Dominic.

我現在將把電話轉給多米尼克。

Thank you, Julianna. Good morning, and thank you, everyone, for joining us for our earnings call. I will begin the review of our financial results with Slide 3 of our presentation. Our strong financial performance in 2022 was characterized by strong revenue growth, which was driven by strong loan growth and net interest margin expansion in a rising interest rate environment, combined with disciplined expense management and solid and stable asset quality. Together, all these drivers result in industry-leading profitability, both for the full year and the fourth quarter of 2022.

謝謝你，朱莉安娜。早上好，謝謝大家加入我們的財報電話會議。我將從我們演示文稿的幻燈片 3 開始審查我們的財務結果。我們在 2022 年強勁的財務業績的特點是收入增長強勁，這是由利率上升環境下強勁的貸款增長和淨息差擴大，以及嚴格的費用管理和穩固穩定的資產質量推動的。所有這些驅動因素共同導致了全年和 2022 年第四季度的行業領先盈利能力。

East West achieved record earnings of $1.1 billion or $7.92 per share for the full year of 2022, an increase of 30% year-over-year. Our 2022 total revenue of $2.3 billion was our highest ever and grew 29% year-over-year. Our pretax pre-provision income of $1.6 billion grew 40% year-over-year in 2022. We returned 1.8% on assets and 21% on tangible equity for the full year.

East West 在 2022 年全年實現了創紀錄的 11 億美元或每股 7.92 美元的收益，同比增長 30%。我們 2022 年的總收入為 23 億美元，創歷史新高，同比增長 29%。到 2022 年，我們的稅前撥備前收入為 16 億美元，同比增長 40%。我們全年的資產回報率為 1.8%，有形資產回報率為 21%。

Now for the fourth quarter of 2022, we reported net income of $337 million and earnings per share of $2.37, which grew 55% annualized quarter-over-quarter. Our industry-leading returns were 2.1% on assets and 25% on tangible equity for the fourth quarter. Our fourth quarter pretax pre-provision profitability was nearly 3%.

現在，對於 2022 年第四季度，我們報告的淨收入為 3.37 億美元，每股收益為 2.37 美元，環比年化增長 55%。第四季度，我們行業領先的資產回報率為 2.1%，有形資產回報率為 25%。我們第四季度的稅前撥備前利潤率接近 3%。

Now let's go to Slide 4, and Slide 4 presents a summary of our balance sheet. As of as of December 31, 2022, total loans reached an all-time high of $48.2 billion, an increase of $771 million or 6% annualized from September 30. Fourth quarter average loan growth was likewise 6% annualized. Average loan growth in the fourth quarter was well-balanced between our major loan portfolios of commercial real estate, residential mortgage and commercial and industrial.

現在讓我們轉到幻燈片 4，幻燈片 4 顯示了我們資產負債表的摘要。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，總貸款達到 482 億美元的歷史新高，比 9 月 30 日增加了 7.71 億美元，年化增長率為 6%。第四季度平均貸款增長率同樣為 6%。第四季度的平均貸款增長在我們的商業房地產、住宅抵押貸款以及商業和工業的主要貸款組合之間保持平衡。

Total deposits were record $56 billion as of December 31, 2022, an increase of $2.1 billion or 16% annualized from September 30. Fourth quarter average deposit growth was 7% annualized. Growth was driven by time deposits, reflecting a successful branch-based CD campaign during the fourth quarter. Our deposit book is well diversified by deposit type and 38% of total deposits were in noninterest-bearing demand deposits as of December 31. Our loan-to-deposit ratio decreased to 86% as of the end of the year from 88% as of September 30.

截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，存款總額達到創紀錄的 560 億美元，比 9 月 30 日增加了 21 億美元或年化 16%。第四季度平均存款年化增長率為 7%。增長是由定期存款推動的，反映了第四季度成功的基於分行的 CD 活動。截至 12 月 31 日，我們的存款簿的存款類型非常多元化，總存款中有 38% 為無息活期存款。我們的貸存比率從年底的 88% 降至年底的 86% 9 月 30 日。

Turning to Slide 5. As you can see in the exhibit on this slide, all our capital ratios expanded quarter-over-quarter. As of December 31, 2022, we had a common equity Tier 1 ratio of 12.7%, a total capital ratio of 14% and a tangible common equity ratio of 8.7%. Quarter-over-quarter, our book value and our tangible equity per share increased 6%. I'm pleased to announce that East West Board of Directors approved a 20% increase to the quarterly common stock dividend from $0.40 per share to $0.48 per share and equivalent to an annual dividend of $1.92 per share. The new dividend will take effect in the first quarter, payable on February 21, 2023, to stockholders of record on February 6, 2023.

轉到幻燈片 5。正如您在這張幻燈片的展示中所看到的，我們所有的資本比率都比上一季度有所擴大。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們的一級普通股權益比率為 12.7%，總資本比率為 14%，有形普通股權益比率為 8.7%。與上一季度相比，我們的賬面價值和每股有形權益增長了 6%。我很高興地宣布，East West 董事會批准將季度普通股股息從每股 0.40 美元增加 20% 至每股 0.48 美元，相當於每股 1.92 美元的年度股息。新股息將於第一季度生效，將於 2023 年 2 月 21 日支付給 2023 年 2 月 6 日登記在冊的股東。

Moving on to a discussion of our loan portfolio, beginning with Slide 6. As of December 31, 2022, C&I loans outstanding were $15.7 billion, sequentially up 2% annualized and up 11% year-over-year. Our C&I portfolio is well diversified by industry and sector.

繼續討論我們的貸款組合，從幻燈片 6 開始。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，C&I 未償貸款為 157 億美元，環比年化增長 2%，同比增長 11%。我們的 C&I 投資組合在行業和部門方面非常多樣化。

Slide 7 and 8 show the details of our commercial real estate portfolio, which is well diversified by geography and property type and consists of low loan-to-value loans. Total commercial real estate loans were $19.1 billion as of December 31, 2022, up 8% annualized from September 30 and up 18% year-over-year.

幻燈片 7 和 8 顯示了我們商業房地產投資組合的詳細信息，該投資組合在地域和財產類型方面非常多樣化，包括低貸款價值貸款。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，商業房地產貸款總額為 191 億美元，較 9 月 30 日年化增長 8%，同比增長 18%。

In Slide 9, we provide details regarding our residential mortgage portfolio, which consists of single-family mortgages and home equity lines of credit. Our residential mortgage loans are primarily originated through East West Bank branches. I would highlight that 82% of our HELOC commitments were in a first lien position as of December 31, 2022. Residential mortgage loans totaled $13.3 billion as of December 31, 2022, up 9% annualized from September 30 and up 19% year-over-year.

在幻燈片 9 中，我們提供了有關住宅抵押貸款組合的詳細信息，其中包括單戶抵押貸款和房屋淨值信貸額度。我們的住宅抵押貸款主要通過華美銀行分行發放。我要強調的是，截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，我們 82% 的 HELOC 承諾處於第一留置權。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日，住宅抵押貸款總額為 133 億美元，比 9 月 30 日年化增長 9%，同比增長 19% -年。

I will now turn the call over to Irene for a more detailed discussion of our asset quality and income statement. Irene?

我現在將把電話轉給艾琳，以便更詳細地討論我們的資產質量和損益表。艾琳？

Thank you, Dominic. I'll start with our asset quality metrics and components of our allowance for loan losses on Slides 10 and 11. The asset quality of our portfolio continues to be stable and strong.

謝謝你，多米尼克。我將從幻燈片 10 和 11 的資產質量指標和貸款損失準備金的組成部分開始。我們投資組合的資產質量繼續保持穩定和強勁。

Quarter-over-quarter, criticized loans decreased 1% and the criticized loan ratio improved 5 basis points, both classified and special mention loans decreased from already low level as of September 30. At year-end, the nonperforming asset ratio was 16 basis points of assets, unchanged quarter-over-quarter. Charge-offs continue to be a low loan. During the fourth quarter, we recorded net charge-offs of $10 million or 8 basis points, compared with net charge-offs of 6 basis points in the third quarter. Our allowance totaled $596 million as of December 31 or 1.24% of loans, up from 1.23% as of September 30. During the fourth quarter, we reported a provision for credit losses of $25 million compared with $27 million for the third quarter. While asset quality remains strong and the current credit environment is benign, we continue to remain vigilant about credit. We are actively managing the loan portfolio and taking proactive measures to build our loans for loan losses.

環比下降1%，關注貸款率環比提高5個基點，關注類和關注類貸款均較9月30日的低水平有所下降。年末不良資產率為16個基點資產，環比不變。沖銷仍然是低貸款。在第四季度，我們記錄了 1000 萬美元或 8 個基點的淨沖銷，而第三季度為 6 個基點的淨沖銷。截至 12 月 31 日，我們的準備金總額為 5.96 億美元，佔貸款的 1.24%，高於 9 月 30 日的 1.23%。第四季度，我們報告的信貸損失準備金為 2500 萬美元，而第三季度為 2700 萬美元。儘管資產質量依然強勁且當前的信貸環境良好，但我們繼續對信貸保持警惕。我們正在積極管理貸款組合併採取積極措施來建立我們的貸款以彌補貸款損失。

And now moving to a discussion of our income statement on Slide 12. This slide summarizes the key line items of the income statement, which I'll discuss in more detail on the following slides. Of note, amortization of tax credit and other investments in the fourth quarter was $65 million compared with $20 million in the third quarter. At the same time, the quarterly effective tax rate was 13% in the fourth quarter compared with 23% in the third quarter. This fluctuation is due to tax credit investments that were closed in the fourth quarter and the related projects that were placed into service. This resulted in a lower effective tax rate and an increase in the amortization expense for the fourth quarter. For the full year of 2022, the effective tax rate was 20%.

現在開始討論我們在幻燈片 12 上的損益表。這張幻燈片總結了損益表的主要項目，我將在下面的幻燈片中更詳細地討論。值得注意的是，第四季度稅收抵免和其他投資的攤銷額為 6500 萬美元，而第三季度為 2000 萬美元。與此同時，第四季度的季度有效稅率為 13%，而第三季度為 23%。這種波動是由於第四季度關閉的稅收抵免投資和投入使用的相關項目。這導致第四季度的有效稅率降低，攤銷費用增加。 2022 年全年，有效稅率為 20%。

I'll now review the key drivers of our net interest income and net interest margin on Slide 13 through 16, starting with average balance sheet. As Dominic mentioned in his remarks, fourth quarter average loan growth of 6% annualized was well balanced among our major loan portfolios and average deposit growth of 7% annualized reflected a successful branch-based deposit campaign. Our average loan-to-deposit ratio was stable quarter-over-quarter at 87%. Average noninterest-bearing demand deposits stayed up 39% of our average deposits in the fourth quarter.

我現在將在幻燈片 13 到 16 上回顧我們的淨利息收入和淨息差的主要驅動因素，從平均資產負債表開始。正如多米尼克在他的講話中提到的那樣，第四季度平均貸款年增長率為 6%，在我們的主要貸款組合中取得了很好的平衡，平均存款年增長率為 7%，這反映了基於分行的存款活動取得了成功。我們的平均貸存比環比穩定在 87%。第四季度平均無息活期存款占我們平均存款的 39%。

Turning to Slide 14. Fourth quarter 2022 net interest income of $605.5 million was the highest quarterly net interest income in the history of East West, growing 39% linked quarter annualized. Our net interest margin of 3.98% expanded 30 basis points quarter-over-quarter. As you can see from the waterfall chart on the slide, net interest margin expansion in the fourth quarter reflected the impact of higher loan and earning asset yields, which increased the net interest margin by 82 basis points, partially offset by 52 basis points of compression from the funding side. Our net interest income growth benefited from rising benchmark interest rates because of our asset-sensitive loan portfolio. To preserve net interest income when interest rates go down, we added $3.25 billion of swaps and collars in 2022, which included $1 billion added early in the fourth quarter.

轉到幻燈片 14。2022 年第四季度的淨利息收入為 6.055 億美元，是東西方歷史上最高的季度淨利息收入，環比年化增長 39%。我們的淨息差為 3.98%，環比擴大 30 個基點。從幻燈片的瀑布圖中可以看出，第四季度淨息差擴大反映了貸款和收益資產收益率上升的影響，淨息差增加了 82 個基點，部分被壓縮了 52 個基點所抵消從資金方面。由於我們的資產敏感貸款組合，我們的淨利息收入增長受益於基準利率上升。為了在利率下降時保持淨利息收入，我們在 2022 年增加了 32.5 億美元的掉期和利率保證金，其中包括在第四季度初增加的 10 億美元。

Turning to Slide 15. The fourth quarter average loan yield was 5.59%, an increase of 84 basis points quarter-over-quarter. The average loan yields comprised an average coupon yield of 5.53% plus yield adjustments, which contributed 6 basis points to the overall loan yield in the fourth quarter.

轉到幻燈片 15。第四季度平均貸款收益率為 5.59%，環比上升 84 個基點。平均貸款收益率包括 5.53% 的平均息票收益率加上收益率調整，這對第四季度的整體貸款收益率貢獻了 6 個基點。

As of December 31, the spot coupon rate of our loans was 5.92%. In this slide, we also present the coupon spot yields for each major loan portfolio for the last 5 quarter end. You can see the positive impact of rising interest rates on each of the loan portfolios as loans have repriced. In total, 61% of our loan portfolio was variable rate including 30% linked to the prime rate, and 27% linked to LIBOR or SOFR rates. I would also highlight that over 40% of our variable rate commercial real estate loans have customer level interest rate derivative contracts in place. To clarify, this is distinct from the balance sheet hedging I discussed a minute ago. With the customer level derivative contracts, we've helped our customers enter into low level interest rate swaps, collars and caps, currently structured to help protect customers against rising debt service costs. At the same time, the loans remain variable rate on our balance sheet and the bank benefits from the asset sensitivity.

截至 12 月 31 日，本行貸款即期票面利率為 5.92%。在這張幻燈片中，我們還展示了過去 5 個季度末每個主要貸款組合的息票即期收益率。隨著貸款重新定價，您可以看到利率上升對每個貸款組合的積極影響。總的來說，我們 61% 的貸款組合採用可變利率，其中 30% 與最優惠利率掛鉤，27% 與 LIBOR 或 SOFR 利率掛鉤。我還要強調的是，我們超過 40% 的可變利率商業房地產貸款都有客戶級別的利率衍生合同。需要澄清的是，這與我剛才討論的資產負債表對沖不同。通過客戶級衍生品合約，我們幫助我們的客戶簽訂了低水平的利率互換、限額和上限，目前的結構旨在幫助保護客戶免受不斷上升的償債成本的影響。同時，貸款在我們的資產負債表上保持浮動利率，銀行受益於資產敏感性。

Turning to Slide 16. Our average cost of deposits for the fourth quarter was 106 basis points, up 55 basis points from the third quarter. Our spot rate on total deposits was 134 basis points as of December 31, a year-over-year increase of 125 basis points. This translates to a 29% cumulative beta relative to the 425 basis point increase in the target Fed funds rate over the same period. In comparison, the cumulative beta on our loans has been 58% as our loan coupon spot rate increased 248 basis points year-over-year. We started the rising interest rate cycle from a position of strength with historically high levels of demand deposits for East West Bank and strong liquidity. This has bolstered the asset sensitivity benefits of our variable rate loan portfolio, supporting strong revenue growth through the cycle.

轉到幻燈片 16。我們第四季度的平均存款成本為 106 個基點，比第三季度上升 55 個基點。截至 12 月 31 日，我們的總存款即期利率為 134 個基點，同比增長 125 個基點。這意味著相對於同期目標聯邦基金利率增加 425 個基點，累積貝塔係數為 29%。相比之下，由於我們的貸款息票利率同比增長 248 個基點，我們貸款的累計貝塔係數為 58%。我們從華美銀行活期存款處於歷史高位和流動性強勁的優勢地位開始了利率上升週期。這增強了我們可變利率貸款組合的資產敏感性優勢，支持整個週期的強勁收入增長。

We are pleased with the lag in deposit beta cycle to date. This has come through careful deposit cost management. With a 29% cumulative beta cycle to date, we are outperforming prior rising interest rate cycles. With 39% of our average deposits and interest-bearing accounts and with the growth that we have had in treasury management products and services since before the pandemic we feel comfortable about continuing to navigate the current cycle level.

我們對迄今為止存款測試週期的滯後感到滿意。這是通過謹慎的存款成本管理實現的。迄今為止，我們的累計貝塔週期為 29%，表現優於之前的利率上升週期。憑藉我們平均存款和計息賬戶的 39%，以及自大流行病爆發前以來我們在資金管理產品和服務方面的增長，我們對繼續在當前的周期水平上保持平穩感到自在。

Moving on to fee income on Slide 17. Total noninterest income in the fourth quarter was 65%, down from 76% in the third quarter. Customer-driven fee income and net gains on sales of loans were $66 million, down 4.5% or 18% annualized from the third quarter and up 4% from a year ago. Year-over-year, we saw growth across most of our fee income lines of business.

轉到幻燈片 17 的費用收入。第四季度非利息收入總額為 65%，低於第三季度的 76%。客戶驅動的費用收入和貸款銷售淨收益為 6600 萬美元，比第三季度下降 4.5% 或 18%，比去年同期增長 4%。與去年同期相比，我們看到大部分費用收入業務線都有增長。

Moving on to Slide 18. Fourth quarter noninterest expense was $257 million. Excluding amortization of tax credits and other investments and core deposit intangible amortization, adjusted noninterest expense was $192 million in the third quarter, down 2% quarter-over-quarter or 7% annualized, driven by lower compensation and employee benefits expense. Once again, we generated strong positive operating leverage with total revenue growth of 27% annualized in the fourth quarter plus a sequential decrease in expenses. The fourth quarter adjusted efficiency ratio was 29% compared to 31% in the third quarter. Our adjusted pretax, pre-provision income grew 43% linked quarter annualized, and our pretax pre-provision ROA was an attractive 2.95% in the fourth quarter.

轉到幻燈片 18。第四季度非利息支出為 2.57 億美元。不包括稅收抵免和其他投資的攤銷以及核心存款無形攤銷，第三季度調整後的非利息支出為 1.92 億美元，環比下降 2% 或年化下降 7%，這是受薪酬和員工福利支出下降的推動。我們再次產生了強勁的積極經營槓桿，第四季度總收入年化增長率為 27%，加上費用連續下降。第四季度調整後的效率比為 29%，而第三季度為 31%。我們調整後的稅前撥備前收入環比年化增長了 43%，我們的稅前撥備前資產回報率在第四季度達到了 2.95% 的誘人水平。

And with that, I'll now review our updated outlook for the full year of 2023 on Slide 19. For the full year 2023 compared to 2022, we currently expect year-over-year loan growth in the high single-digit percentage range. We expect production from all of our major loan portfolios in 2023. Year-over-year, we expect net interest income growth in the low 20% rate range, underpinning our interest income assumption is the forward interest rate curve as of year-end, which assumes a peak Fed funds target rate of 5% by April 2023 and the year-end Fed fund's target rate of 4.75% was the cut late in the year. In our modeling, we assume that deposit betas will continue to rise in 2023. Adjusted noninterest expense growth, excluding tax credit and investment amortization in the range of 10% to 11%. We expect our revenue and expense outlook to result in positive operating leverage year-over-year.

因此，我現在將在幻燈片 19 上回顧我們對 2023 年全年的最新展望。與 2022 年相比，2023 年全年，我們目前預計貸款同比增長將處於高個位數百分比範圍內。我們預計 2023 年我們所有主要貸款組合的產量。與去年同期相比，我們預計淨利息收入將以 20% 的低利率增長，支持我們的利息收入假設的是截至年底的遠期利率曲線，假設到 2023 年 4 月聯邦基金目標利率達到 5% 的峰值，年末聯邦基金目標利率為 4.75% 是在今年年底下調的。在我們的模型中，我們假設存款貝塔係數將在 2023 年繼續上升。調整後的非利息支出增長，不包括稅收抵免和投資攤銷，範圍在 10% 至 11% 之間。我們預計我們的收入和支出前景將導致同比積極的經營槓桿。

In terms of credit, for 2023, the provision for credit losses will largely be driven by changes in the macroeconomic outlook. We are providing our expectations for gross charge-offs which are expected to be in line with our recent gross charge-off experience if macroeconomic conditions stay stable. For context, the gross charge-off ratio was 8 basis points in 2022 and 17 basis points in 2021. Asset quality today is excellent, and the potential losses from any problem loans are limited. However, realistically, if the economic backdrop weakened, we would expect to see some credit normalization from the very low levels today.

信貸方面，2023年，信貸損失準備主要受宏觀經濟前景變化驅動。如果宏觀經濟狀況保持穩定，我們正在提供我們對總沖銷的預期，預計這將與我們最近的總沖銷經驗一致。就背景而言，2022 年的總沖銷率為 8 個基點，2021 年為 17 個基點。今天的資產質量非常好，任何問題貸款的潛在損失有限。然而，實際上，如果經濟背景減弱，我們預計會看到一些信貸從今天非常低的水平開始正常化。

In terms of tax items, we currently expect that approximately $150 million of tax credit investments, excluding low income housing tax credit will close to go into service in 2023, and therefore be part of our tax rate calculation for the full year. The tax credit amortization related to these tax permits should be approximately 95% of the tax credit investment amount for the full year. For the first quarter of 2023, we expect that $92 million of these tax credits will be reflected in the tax rate calculation and the tax credit amortization to be approximately $22 million for the quarter. There will be quarterly variability in the tax rate and the tax credit amortization due to the timing of tax credit investments placed into service.

在稅收項目方面，我們目前預計大約 1.5 億美元的稅收抵免投資（不包括低收入住房稅收抵免）將在 2023 年關閉投入使用，因此成為我們全年稅率計算的一部分。與這些稅收許可相關的稅收抵免攤銷應約為全年稅收抵免投資額的 95%。對於 2023 年第一季度，我們預計這些稅收抵免中的 9200 萬美元將反映在稅率計算中，該季度的稅收抵免攤銷約為 2200 萬美元。由於稅收抵免投資投入使用的時間，稅率和稅收抵免攤銷將出現季度變化。

With that, I'll now turn the call back over to Dominic for closing remarks.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉回給多米尼克，讓他發表結束語。

Thank you, Irene. In closing, 2022 was an excellent year for East West with our highest ever earnings, revenue, loans and deposits and the achievement of industry-leading profitability metrics. Our annual earnings now exceed $1 billion. We look forward to 2023 with excitement as we celebrate our 50-year anniversary. The bank and our customers have come a long way since 1973. Throughout our history, the pillar of our success has been and continues to be our spirit of going above and beyond to service our customers.

謝謝你，艾琳。最後，2022 年對 East West 來說是出色的一年，我們的收益、收入、貸款和存款達到了有史以來最高，並且實現了行業領先的盈利指標。我們的年收入現已超過 10 億美元。在慶祝我們成立 50 週年之際，我們懷著激動的心情期待 2023 年的到來。自 1973 年以來，銀行和我們的客戶已經取得了長足的進步。縱觀我們的歷史，我們成功的支柱一直是並將繼續是我們超越自我、服務客戶的精神。

We are honored to be the bank of choice for our clients, and wish to thank all our associates for their dedication and contribution to making our bank a success. Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy Lunar New Year. May the Year of the Rabbit bring health, prosperity and happiness to all of us.

我們很榮幸成為客戶的首選銀行，並感謝所有員工為我們銀行的成功所做的奉獻和貢獻。最後，我想藉此機會祝大家農曆新年快樂。願兔年為我們所有人帶來健康、繁榮和幸福。

I will now open up the call to questions. Operator?

我現在將開始提問。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from Dave Rochester with Compass Point.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自 Compass Point 的 Dave Rochester。

My first question is on the NII guide. On Slide 16, you guys highlight the total deposit beta 29%, you've got 47% interest-bearing deposit beta during the end of last year. I was wondering what deposit beta you're baking into the guide at this point? I know you mentioned -- you expect the deposit betas to rise through this year, but are you thinking mid-30s or upper 30s to the overall cycle? Are you making it something higher than that? And then how do you think about deposit growth from here and what that means for borrowing levels, which are still very low?

我的第一個問題是關於 NII 指南。在幻燈片 16 上，你們強調了 29% 的總存款貝塔值，去年年底你們有 47% 的有息存款貝塔值。我想知道此時您在指南中加入了什麼存款測試版？我知道你提到過——你預計今年的存款貝塔會上升，但你是在考慮整個週期的 30 年代中期還是 30 年代後期？你要把它做得比這更高嗎？然後你如何看待這裡的存款增長以及這對仍然很低的借貸水平意味著什麼？

Yes. Great question, Dave. At this point in time, we're modeling the full cycle data will be 40% for 2023, and at the same time for interest-bearing deposits, a deposit beta of 60%. And that's factored in with our NII guidance that we have of the increase in the low 20%. Overall, I think with the good growth that we've had in deposits in general, along with our successful campaigns for CDs that are lower than other competitors in the market. At this point in time, I think we'll be able to continue to fund our loan growth with the deposits. Certainly, we're very opportunistic to look at that from the perspective of cost.

是的。好問題，戴夫。在這個時間點，我們正在模擬 2023 年的全週期數據為 40%，同時對於生息存款，存款貝塔為 60%。這是我們的 NII 指南考慮的因素，即我們對低 20% 的增長。總的來說，我認為我們的存款總體上有良好的增長，以及我們成功的 CD 活動低於市場上的其他競爭對手。在這個時候，我認為我們將能夠繼續用存款為我們的貸款增長提供資金。當然，從成本的角度來看，我們是非常機會主義的。

Great. And then just one follow-up. On the back end of the year, when you include your Fed rate cut, I was curious what you're expecting for the deposit cost movement as a result of that cut. Are you thinking that you'll get immediate benefit? Or are you thinking there might be a little bit of a lag there with the first couple of cuts.

偉大的。然後只是一個跟進。在今年年底，當你包括美聯儲降息時，我很好奇你對這次降息導致的存款成本變動有何期待。你認為你會立即得到好處嗎？或者你認為前幾次削減可能會有一點滯後。

Yes. I think it's still late in the year at this point, the expectation around that. We're not baking that in, Dave.

是的。我認為在這一點上仍然是今年晚些時候，圍繞這一點的期望。戴夫，我們不會把它放進去。

The next question comes from Manan Gosalia with Morgan Stanley. .

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Manan Gosalia。 .

I wanted to ask on the hedges that you've been putting on, on the books. Can you speak to how those might impact loan betas for both the remaining of the rate cycle -- the rate hike cycle and also when the Fed began cutting rates, and also how much more you plan to do on your hedging efforts from here?

我想問問你在書本上設置的樹籬。你能談談這些可能如何影響利率週期剩餘時間的貸款貝塔——加息週期以及美聯儲開始降息的時間，以及你打算從這裡開始對沖工作做多少？

Yes, great question. Certainly, the specifics of how much that's impacted us. Quarter-to-date, I do not have that, but we can get you that information after the call. Certainly, as we started adding this fourth quarter, third quarter...

是的，很好的問題。當然，這對我們的影響有多大。季度至今，我沒有，但我們可以在電話後為您提供該信息。當然，隨著我們開始添加第四季度、第三季度......

There have been any covenant breaches or any other crack to nut?

有沒有違反契約或任何其他裂縫？

I mean, I think certainly on an individual loan basis that is happening, right? But overall, I think we're very positive from the perspective that on credit as we do continue to do these reviews on our commercial books, our consumer books throughout what's positive is there are not a lot of new problem loans, same loans that we're working through last couple of years continue to be things that we work through. There is not a lot of new problems in that process. So that's certainly something that we feel is positive and positions us well.

我的意思是，我認為肯定是在個人貸款的基礎上發生的，對吧？但總的來說，我認為我們在信貸方面非常積極，因為我們繼續對我們的商業書籍進行這些審查，我們的消費者書籍在整個積極的方面是沒有很多新的問題貸款，與我們相同的貸款過去幾年的工作仍然是我們努力完成的事情。在這個過程中沒有很多新問題。因此，這肯定是我們認為是積極的並且使我們處於有利地位的事情。

Yes, we've been actively managing the loan portfolio overall. So as you can see in the criticized asset percentage, is relatively benign so far. Surprisingly, asset quality very, very good. And we look at the rising interest rate, obviously, that's why we've been aggressively managing the portfolio and see how it goes, and I always do this ongoing loan review and so far, so good.

是的，我們一直在積極管理整體貸款組合。因此，正如您在受批評的資產百分比中看到的那樣，到目前為止相對良性。令人驚訝的是，資產質量非常非常好。顯然，我們看到利率上升，這就是為什麼我們一直在積極管理投資組合併觀察其進展情況，而且我一直在進行持續的貸款審查，到目前為止，一切都很好。

The next question comes from Ebrahim Poonawala with Bank of America.

下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Ebrahim Poonawala。

I guess maybe just sticking with asset quality. So I appreciate that what you just said, Dominic, you haven't seen any stress within the portfolio. But is that a timing issue? Or in Slide 15, you're showing how interest rate yields have gone up on these loan portfolios. Is it a timing issue? Or do you feel good about the loan book and your ability of these borrowers to absorb where -- if the Fed funds were to peak out at 5%, they should be able to handle this where it doesn't become a credit issue for East West. Do you feel good about that? Do you have visibility into that?

我想也許只是堅持資產質量。所以我很欣賞你剛才說的話，多米尼克，你沒有看到投資組合中的任何壓力。但這是時間問題嗎？或者在幻燈片 15 中，您展示了這些貸款組合的利率收益率是如何上升的。是時間問題嗎？或者你對貸款賬簿和這些借款人吸收的能力感覺良好——如果聯邦基金達到 5% 的峰值，他們應該能夠處理這不會成為 East 的信貸問題西方。你覺得這樣好嗎？你對此有了解嗎？

Well, when it comes -- when you say timing issue, we obviously -- when we do our stress tests on these real estate, we're obviously projecting. So it's not something that we're just looking at as of today, whether they can handle and so forth. So from that perspective, we feel pretty good about the liquidity level of our clients in terms of the cash flow that they've been getting from the existing business. So I guess in a way that what we noticed is that the cash flow is still pretty good. I think it's really coming back down to the economy. The economy is still strong. Now if you look at it -- we project a much more deteriorating economy, that will be very different. At this point, we don't see it. Things are going pretty well.

好吧，當它到來時——當你說時間問題時，我們顯然——當我們對這些房地產進行壓力測試時，我們顯然是在預測。所以這不是我們今天才關注的問題，他們是否可以處理等等。因此，從這個角度來看，我們對客戶從現有業務中獲得的現金流方面的流動性水平感到非常滿意。所以我想在某種程度上，我們注意到現金流仍然相當不錯。我認為這真的要回到經濟上了。經濟仍然強勁。現在，如果你看一下——我們預計經濟將更加惡化，那將是非常不同的。在這一點上，我們看不到它。事情進展順利。

Got it. And I guess just separately, in terms of loan growth, so I appreciate the lower growth guidance. But just talk to us in terms of what are the pockets. I know Irene mentioned you expect loan growth across categories, but any particular verticals, any markets where you're seeing more strength and more market share opportunities as we think about growth and maybe potential for upside surprise on that growth?

知道了。我想就貸款增長而言，只是分開來看，所以我很欣賞較低的增長指導。但是，就口袋是什麼而言，請與我們交談。我知道 Irene 提到你預計貸款會跨類別增長，但任何特定的垂直領域，任何市場，在我們考慮增長時你會看到更多的實力和更多的市場份額機會，並且可能會出現增長的上行驚喜？

I think, overall, we have always been very focused in having a more diversified growth. So from that standpoint, there's always going to be one particular industry vertical here and there that seems to do a bit better than the others. However, overall, if it gets too far, we ran it in any way. So in that standpoint, that's why you always see a much more, even till more diverse type of loan portfolio that we have here is because we actually manage it. So -- but I would say that, I mean, just looking at maybe a couple of weeks so far, we do have a few more like private equity, capital call line commitments that we have originated. But I would expect that if we continue to go in that direction, we probably have a stronger PE loan growth. And then also last year that we actually have surprisingly, pretty decent growth from our Greater China region and so despite the pandemic, and so we expected that they may be able to continue to do quite well.

我認為，總的來說，我們一直非常專注於實現更多元化的增長。所以從這個角度來看，總是會有一個特定的垂直行業在這里和那裡似乎比其他行業做得更好。但是，總的來說，如果它走得太遠，我們會以任何方式運行它。所以從這個角度來看，這就是為什麼你總是看到更多，甚至更多類型的貸款組合，因為我們實際上在管理它。所以 - 但我要說的是，我的意思是，到目前為止，我們確實有一些像私募股權、我們發起的資本電話線承諾。但我預計，如果我們繼續朝著這個方向前進，我們可能會有更強勁的私募股權貸款增長。然後在去年，我們實際上在大中華區取得了令人驚訝的相當不錯的增長，因此儘管發生了大流行，因此我們預計他們可能會繼續做得很好。

Now obviously, they have a much smaller balance sheet, but as a percentage growth, they're doing pretty well. So we may have a few other different areas that we'll be able to step up because we also have a very strong competitive teams within the organization, everybody wanted to do better. So we just expect that different team will step up in different quarters.

現在很明顯，他們的資產負債表要小得多，但作為百分比增長，他們做得很好。所以我們可能還有其他一些不同的領域，我們可以加強，因為我們在組織內也有非常強大的競爭力團隊，每個人都想做得更好。所以我們只是希望不同的團隊會在不同的領域加強。

The next question comes from Brandon King with Truist Securities.

下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Brandon King。

I wanted to kind of touch again on the NII guide and in particular, your outlook for the trajectory in net interest margin. It appears if the margin stays flat from 4Q levels, you could potentially hit the guidance just from that. I'm curious what your assumptions are as far as the trajectory of NIM going through the year and also your -- with the forward rate curve assumptions?

我想再次談談 NII 指南，特別是您對淨息差軌蹟的展望。看來，如果利潤率與第四季度的水平持平，您可能會因此而達到指導。我很好奇，就 NIM 全年的軌跡以及您的遠期利率曲線假設而言，您的假設是什麼？

Yes. I think at this point, my focus is really more on the NII, Brandon, and we do expect when we look at our guidance, if you can tell, you can do the math on our guidance as well, and we do expect the NII to grow from the fourth quarter level. Then it depends really more about the fluctuation of what happens per quarter, but both we expect to be positive in 2023. .

是的。我認為在這一點上，我的重點實際上更多地放在 NII 上，Brandon，當我們看到我們的指南時，我們確實期望，如果你能說出來，你也可以根據我們的指南進行數學計算，我們確實期望 NII從第四季度的水平增長。然後它實際上更多地取決於每個季度發生的波動，但我們預計 2023 年都是積極的。。

Okay. And then in regards to your outlook for deposit growth, what areas or what categories of deposits you see most of that growth coming from? And could you talk more about your ability to kind of mitigate losses in DDA?

好的。然後關於您對存款增長的展望，您認為大部分增長來自哪些領域或哪些類別的存款？你能多談談你在某種程度上減輕 DDA 損失的能力嗎？

Yes. Great question. When we look at our deposit portfolio in our customers, one of the things that we benefit from is just the diversity of customers we have. Certainly, in order to quite candidly remain competitive, we have these deposit CD campaigns in the fourth quarter. And we have one right now, priced below market, but attractive enough rate and also 6-month duration. We don't want that to go too long. And so that is something that we continue to do relative to other kind of funded costs right now. We think it's attractive. It's also a customer base that stays with us and has a larger relationship with us.

是的。很好的問題。當我們查看客戶的存款組合時，我們從中受益的其中一件事就是我們擁有的客戶的多樣性。當然，為了坦率地保持競爭力，我們在第四季度開展了這些存款 CD 活動。我們現在有一個，價格低於市場價，但利率足夠有吸引力，還有 6 個月的期限。我們不希望這種情況持續太久。因此，相對於其他類型的資助成本，這是我們現在繼續做的事情。我們認為它很有吸引力。它也是一個與我們在一起並與我們有更大關係的客戶群。

When we look for 2023, and where we think deposits are going to grow, I'd say across the board. Although realistically, in this kind of rate environment, it's hard to maintain the deposit balances in the DDA accounts at the level that we have pre rising rates, we are still onboarding new customers all the time, pipelines are strong on the deposit side. So we are very kind of positive about what we're doing. The investments that we've made in treasury management, cash management, product services certainly are something that we're seeing a benefit today.

當我們展望 2023 年，以及我們認為存款將增長的地方時，我會說是全面的。儘管實際上，在這種利率環境下，很難將 DDA 賬戶中的存款餘額維持在利率上漲前的水平，但我們仍在不斷吸引新客戶，存款方面的渠道很強大。所以我們對我們正在做的事情非常樂觀。我們在資金管理、現金管理、產品服務方面的投資無疑是我們今天看到的收益。

I wanted to highlight also, I think at the height of excess liquidity, which is during PPP time, back in late 2020 because of COVID. We had like maybe went all the way up to close to 43% as a percentage of DDA to the noninterest-bearing deposit to the entire deposit portfolio, 43%.

我還想強調一下，我認為在流動性過剩的高峰期，即在 PPP 時期，由於 COVID，早在 2020 年底。我們可能一直上升到接近 43%，佔 DDA 與無息存款佔整個存款組合的百分比，43%。

Today, we're down to 38%. So as you can see, there was a lot of liquidity then. But by nature, even if the interest rate rising and so forth, you expect that these excess liquidity would not be sustainable. So we are actually very, very pleased throughout the last few quarters, watching our noninterest-bearing deposits and see what the percentage stand, and it's kind of each quarter to drop of 1 basis points and so forth.

今天，我們下降到 38%。所以正如你所看到的，當時有很多流動性。但從本質上講，即使利率上升等等，你預計這些過剩的流動性也不會持續。所以我們在過去幾個季度實際上非常非常高興，觀察我們的無息存款，看看百分比是多少，每個季度都有 1 個基點下降等等。

And then so far, so good. So we drop now to 38%. It's still 38%. That's a lot of noninterest-bearing deposits sitting there. And by the way, the other part is that we continue to bring in new customers. We continue to bring new commercial customers. We're still onboarding this new relationship one at a time. So in time, it will continue to grow the noninterest-bearing deposit. It's just that there are some excess liquidity that in relationship with the market rate in terms of deposit it is today. Naturally, there are people who are moving some of the maybe excess liquidity to put into whether money market accounts or maybe CDs account and so forth. So that's why you see that there is some gradual reduction on noninterest-bearing deposit balance. But in terms of number of accounts, they keep going up.

然後到目前為止，一切都很好。所以我們現在下降到 38%。仍然是38%。那裡有很多無息存款。順便說一句，另一部分是我們繼續引進新客戶。我們繼續帶來新的商業客戶。我們仍然一次一個地建立這種新關係。因此，隨著時間的推移，它將繼續增加無息存款。只是有一些流動性過剩，與今天的存款市場利率有關。當然，有些人正在將一些可能過剩的流動性轉移到貨幣市場賬戶或 CD 賬戶等中。這就是為什麼你會看到無息存款餘額逐漸減少的原因。但就帳戶數量而言，它們一直在上升。

The next question comes from Casey Haire with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Casey Haire。

Just wanted to follow up on the loan growth outlook. Was wondering how -- what you guys were assuming for utilization rates in your guide? And then any color on how loan pipelines are shaping up versus 9/30?

只是想跟進貸款增長前景。想知道如何——你們在指南中對利用率的假設是什麼？然後關於貸款管道如何形成與 9/30 的任何顏色？

Yes. At this point in time, we're not assuming a change in utilization rates, Casey. We're assuming flat from where we're at.

是的。在這個時候，我們不假設利用率發生變化，凱西。我們假設我們所處的位置持平。

Okay. Understood. And then on the credit quality side, everything is still pretty benign and holding stable. I was wondering, is that true also for the $2 billion exposure in China, which obviously gets a lot of attention from investors.

好的。明白了。然後在信用質量方面，一切仍然相當良性並保持穩定。我想知道，在中國的 20 億美元風險敞口是否也是如此，這顯然受到了投資者的廣泛關注。

China is even better. So we always have a very, very strong pristine loan portfolio. And so it's still exactly the same. So we feel that with the economy opening up, I think it was only going to help us better. While we don't expect that there will be some sudden surge of loan origination in 2023 because while the economy opened up, it's going to still take a little bit of time for the business to sort of get back on track. It will probably benefit us more in 2024 than 2023.

中國甚至更好。因此，我們始終擁有非常非常強大的原始貸款組合。所以它仍然完全一樣。所以我們覺得隨著經濟的開放，我認為這只會更好地幫助我們。雖然我們預計 2023 年貸款發放不會突然激增，因為雖然經濟開放，但企業仍需要一些時間才能重回正軌。它可能會在 2024 年比 2023 年使我們受益更多。

The next question comes from Gary Tenner with D.A. Davidson.

下一個問題來自 D.A. 的 Gary Tenner。戴維森。

This is Clark Wright, on for Gary Tenner. I don't want to beat a dead horse, but just in terms of the loan growth again, are you expecting it to be front-end loaded or spread across the quarters?

這是 Clark Wright，替補是 Gary Tenner。我不想打敗一匹死馬，但就貸款增長而言，您是否期望它是前端加載還是跨季度分佈？

We're assuming that it isn't front-end loaded. That will be throughout , maybe a little bit more in the latter half of the year.

我們假設它不是前端加載的。這將貫穿始終，下半年可能會多一點。

Got it. And the rest of my questions have been answered. Great quarter.

知道了。我的其餘問題已得到解答。偉大的季度。

The next question comes from Chris McGratty with KBW.

下一個問題來自 KBW 的 Chris McGratty。

Dominic, on capital, I think the dividend was a pretty strong signal given how much capital you have and the position you're in. Is that really the only capital return that you're contemplating right now given the economy? I know you've been resistant to the buyback, but just wanted to see if there's any change in tone there.

多米尼克，關於資本，考慮到你擁有多少資本和你所處的位置，我認為股息是一個非常強烈的信號。考慮到經濟，這真的是你現在正在考慮的唯一資本回報嗎？我知道你一直反對回購，但只是想看看那裡的基調是否有任何變化。

I just want to interject. We have not been resistant to the buyback. We bought back $100 million last year.

我只是想插話。我們沒有拒絕回購。我們去年回購了 1 億美元。

Yes, we did $100 million in the second quarter 2022. We still have $254 million outstanding that we can execute anytime we want because it's been approved by the Board last year. And we are very opportunistic in terms of the buyback. You have to look at it as -- fourth quarter, we just raked up 25% return on tangible equity. We obviously, it's not one of those banks that really need to do this. However, we are always shareholders-friendly. So if we ever see that there's great opportunity, we absolutely will use the capital at the right moment.

是的，我們在 2022 年第二季度完成了 1 億美元。我們還有 2.54 億美元未償付，我們可以隨時執行，因為它已於去年獲得董事會批准。我們在回購方面非常機會主義。你必須把它看作——第四季度，我們剛剛獲得了 25% 的有形資產回報率。顯然，我們不是真正需要這樣做的銀行之一。但是，我們始終對股東友好。因此，如果我們看到有很好的機會，我們絕對會在適當的時候使用資金。

I thought what we did in the second quarter for the $100 million was a great execution because at that time for that price, sure, I will jump that right at it. So -- but we have to be also be mindful. One of the great advantage of East West Bank, you look at our capital ratio today. And this is very kind of somewhat benign economic environment.

我認為我們在第二季度為 1 億美元所做的事情是一個很好的執行，因為當時對於那個價格，當然，我會馬上跳進去。所以 - 但我們也必須注意。華美銀行的一大優勢，你看看我們今天的資本比率。這是一種有點良性的經濟環境。

And we -- because of the interest rate that we are doing extraordinarily well from a return of equity and return of asset standpoint; however, had this been a completely different economic situation, had it been like 6%, 7% unemployment rate, interest rate were in a much higher level that business we're having trouble; we at that point, having this kind of capital absolutely give our customers much stronger confidence about why they wanted to be banking with East West than the others. So I was always mindful that -- this has been doing really, really well for us back in 2008 and 2009 during the global financial crisis, somehow, somewhere, we just have a bit more capital than our peers.

而且我們——因為從股本回報和資產回報的角度來看我們做得非常好的利率；然而，如果這是一個完全不同的經濟形勢，如果失業率是 6%、7%，利率處於更高的水平，我們就會遇到麻煩；那時，我們擁有這種資本絕對會讓我們的客戶比其他人更有信心與 East West 進行銀行業務。所以我一直牢記——在 2008 年和 2009 年全球金融危機期間，這對我們來說確實非常非常好，不知何故，在某個地方，我們只是比同行擁有更多的資本。

And so ultimately, customers feel more comfortable with us. So we've always been very mindful of that. So that's one key reason. The other thing is that we don't want to not have some excess capital just in case if there are even potential acquisition opportunity and so forth. So we are very choosy in terms of potential acquisition. However, if there is something available, we're always ready to execute. So all of that is a combination of multiple factors that cause us to be where we are today. And -- but one way or the other, we are very comfortable where we are. And if it ever in a situation that we feel that the stock price or whatever the other reason that we feel or maybe somehow there's not enough of a confidence of growth that we may want to do some buyback, absolutely will step in, we do the right thing. So you can count on that.

所以最終，客戶對我們感覺更舒服。所以我們一直非常注意這一點。所以這是一個關鍵原因。另一件事是，我們不想沒有一些多餘的資本，以防萬一有潛在的收購機會等等。因此，我們在潛在收購方面非常挑剔。但是，如果有可用的東西，我們隨時準備執行。因此，所有這些都是多種因素的結合，使我們成為今天的樣子。而且——但不管怎樣，我們對自己所在的地方感到很舒服。如果我們覺得股價或我們覺得的任何其他原因，或者不知何故，我們對增長的信心不足，我們可能想要進行一些回購，那麼我們絕對會介入，我們會做正確的事。所以你可以指望這一點。

Yes. Thank you for this perspective. I do want to ask the tax rate. I'm not the tax expert, but I want to make sure I understand the cadence of the amortization. So Irene, you said roughly 95% of the $150 million will flow through M line, just like a little over $140 million. And I think the Q1 is a little over $20 million. Can you help us with the tax rate? Because it looks like amortization last year was a decent amount lower and the tax rate was 20%. So I'm coming to a tax rate kind of mid- to upper teens based on this guidance. I just want to make sure I don't make a mistake.

是的。謝謝你的觀點。我想問一下稅率。我不是稅務專家，但我想確保我了解攤銷的節奏。所以艾琳，你說 1.5 億美元中大約 95% 將流經 M 線，就像略高於 1.4 億美元一樣。我認為第一季度略高於 2000 萬美元。你能幫我們算一下稅率嗎？因為看起來去年的攤銷額要低很多，而且稅率是 20%。所以我要根據這個指導來製定中高青少年的稅率。我只是想確保我沒有犯錯。

Chris, this is Julianna. In terms of the tax rate, it will vary depending on your assumptions for pretax income, which will vary with your assumptions for provision for credit costs, obviously. In terms of the tax amortization on a full year basis, when you look at our $150 million of tax credits, think of it as 95% of that will go into the tax credit amortization. However, we booked amortization when the credits close and go into service. Therefore, for what's on the docket for the first quarter, that's $22 million. That means amortization rate in quarters 2, 3 and 4 will be higher in order to come up into that full year 95% number as credits close and go into service.

克里斯，這是朱莉安娜。就稅率而言，它會根據您對稅前收入的假設而有所不同，這顯然會隨著您對信貸成本撥備的假設而變化。就全年的稅收攤銷而言，當您查看我們 1.5 億美元的稅收抵免時，可以認為其中 95% 將用於稅收抵免攤銷。但是，我們在信貸關閉並投入使用時進行了攤銷。因此，對於第一季度的待辦事項，這是 2200 萬美元。這意味著第 2、3 和 4 季度的攤銷率將更高，以便在信貸關閉和投入使用時達到全年 95% 的數字。

So we wrote in the slide deck for the first quarter, $92 million of tax credits will be in the tax rate calculation and that will go on up through the year. And I can follow up with you offline for a more detailed calculation, if you like.

所以我們在第一季度的幻燈片中寫道，9200 萬美元的稅收抵免將用於稅率計算，並將持續到全年。如果您願意，我可以離線跟進您進行更詳細的計算。

The next question comes from Jared Shaw with Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Jared Shaw。

I guess, when you look at the moves you've made with swaps and collars and the potential to add more, is your goal to get -- to sort of eliminate all that asset sensitivity earlier or much of that asset sensitivity earlier in '23? Or how should we be thinking about just your general asset sensitivity positioning over the first few quarters?

我想，當你看看你用掉期和領子所做的動作以及增加更多的潛力時，你的目標是——在 23 世紀早些時候消除所有資產敏感性或大部分資產敏感性？或者我們應該如何考慮前幾個季度的一般資產敏感性定位？

Yes, great question. I would say that, that isn't our goal, Jared, to remove our asset sensitivity. What we want to make sure is that when we look at the balance sheet and the loan portfolio that we are able to evaluate what we think might happen, hedge kind of risks that we see from interest rate perspective, but we still expect to be asset sensitive even with these changes that we're making.

是的，很好的問題。我要說的是，Jared，我們的目標不是消除我們的資產敏感性。我們要確保的是，當我們查看資產負債表和貸款組合時，我們能夠評估我們認為可能發生的事情，對沖我們從利率角度看到的那種風險，但我們仍然期望資產即使我們正在進行這些更改，也很敏感。

Okay. And then my follow-up, any outlook on the fee income lines and what you're seeing in terms of potential for growth there among the different lines?

好的。然後是我的後續行動，對費用收入線的任何展望以及您在不同線之間的增長潛力方面看到了什麼？

Yes. Great question. On the fee income, I would say the areas that or -- if you break that down as far as things that are within our control, things that have to do with investments that we've made, growth that we see with our customers, that's going great. Market kind of driven factors, things that maybe we don't have a control over. I think that's going to continue to be challenging, especially if you look at it from the perspective of mark-to-market on the derivatives and then also effects and that balances around. But aside from that, we expect that from a core customer perspective and a growth perspective, we'll still see those increases. .

是的。很好的問題。關於費用收入，我想說的是那些領域，或者 - 如果你將其分解為我們控制範圍內的事情，與我們所做的投資有關的事情，我們與客戶一起看到的增長，一切順利。市場驅動因素，我們可能無法控制的事情。我認為這將繼續具有挑戰性，特別是如果你從衍生品按市值計價的角度來看它，然後還有影響和平衡。但除此之外，我們預計從核心客戶的角度和增長的角度來看，我們仍然會看到這些增長。 .

The next question is a follow-up from Ebrahim Poonawala with Bank of America.

下一個問題是來自美國銀行的 Ebrahim Poonawala 的跟進。

I guess, just wanted to follow up on China in terms of, one, given the reopening that's underway in China, does that create maybe stronger growth opportunities as we think about this year? And how are you thinking about allocating more capital to that business. And I appreciate a lot of the business is kind of cross-border and cross-border connectivity, but would love to hear if there are increased growth opportunities emerging in China. And also Dominic, would love to hear your views. I mean, as is now the Chair of APAC, like how do you see that relationship evolving and creating more opportunity for the bank given its strategic positioning .

我想，只是想跟進中國的情況，其中之一，考慮到中國正在進行的重新開放，這是否會像我們今年考慮的那樣創造更強勁的增長機會？您如何考慮為該業務分配更多資金。我很欣賞很多業務都是跨境和跨境連接，但很想知道中國是否出現了更多的增長機會。還有多米尼克，很想听聽你的意見。我的意思是，正如現在的亞太區主席一樣，鑑於銀行的戰略定位，您如何看待這種關係的發展並為銀行創造更多機會。

In terms of the opening of China, it's not just like a sort of like a post pandemic opening that the ability to travel in and out of China and so to help the foreign investments to do at least about the -- not having the restriction to do quarantine and so forth. That's actually a big factor because many of our management team have not been back to China for the last 2, 3 years. And so I think that, likewise, the same thing for many of the business who around the world who are doing business in China, and they were restricted by that. And then with this opening up, I think that's a huge factor that helps substantially, that's one.

就中國的開放而言，這不僅僅是一種像大流行後的開放，能夠進出中國，從而幫助外國投資至少做到——沒有限制做檢疫等等。這實際上是一個很大的因素，因為我們的許多管理團隊在過去的 2、3 年裡都沒有回到中國。所以我認為，對於世界各地在中國開展業務的許多企業來說，同樣的事情也是如此，他們受到了限制。然後隨著這種開放，我認為這是一個很大的幫助因素，就是一個。

The second part is really the Chinese government new policy towards business. Obviously, the last 2 or 3 years, the business sectors, we are having some hard time whether you are in social media, high-tech, video gaming, entertainment, real estate, education, you name it, every one of these sectors were hammered because of a much more challenging policy or regulation that came up that hinder their ability to grow.

第二部分是中國政府對企業的新政策。顯然，過去 2 或 3 年，商業領域，無論是社交媒體、高科技、視頻遊戲、娛樂、房地產、教育，你能想到的，我們都遇到了一些困難，這些領域中的每一個都由於出現了阻礙他們成長的更具挑戰性的政策或法規而受到打擊。

Now just for the last few weeks, things turn in a completely different direction. Government are providing support to the real estate sectors. They're also really getting much more business friendly to these other industries, et cetera. And so with that, we also see that foreign investments are getting the license approved and getting their -- let's say, additional investment to get majority shares, also sign off and so forth. So we do see that at this stage, the business opportunity is much better.

現在就在最近幾週，事情朝著完全不同的方向發展。政府正在為房地產行業提供支持。他們也確實對這些其他行業等行業變得更加友好。因此，我們還看到外國投資正在獲得許可並獲得他們的 - 比方說，額外投資以獲得多數股權，也簽署等等。所以我們確實看到，在這個階段，商機要好得多。

Now then reflected on East West Bank, we have always traditionally been mainly focusing on our cross-border business. And so I think that with this additional opening up and the more business-friendly kind of policies, clearly, it would encourage cross-border business.

現在回想華美銀行，我們傳統上一直主要專注於我們的跨境業務。因此，我認為，隨著這種額外的開放和更加商業友好的政策，顯然會鼓勵跨境業務。

Please keep in mind that despite the -- from the U.S. side that we can see that maybe that attitude towards China has not improved. But on the other hand, we ought to keep in mind is that the business that has been restricted are usually related to national security issues, the highly sensitive or maybe some very, very high-level technology or biotech type of business that, quite frankly, the East West really do not have anything to do with. And our focus is on this very, very common, like electronics, garments and business items that import export or investment to go shore that to the consumer market and et cetera, that are not related to national security issue.

請記住，儘管從美國方面來看，我們可以看到對中國的態度可能沒有改善。但另一方面，我們應該記住的是，被限制的業務通常與國家安全問題有關，坦率地說，高度敏感或者可能是一些非常非常高級的技術或生物技術類型的業務，東與西真的沒有任何關係。我們的重點是這個非常非常普遍的問題，比如電子產品、服裝和進口出口或投資以進入消費市場等的商業項目，這些都與國家安全問題無關。

So we do feel that there are plenty of room to grow even during the pandemic when China literally was shut down against -- by the borders. We still find a way to grow our loans, we still bring in additional new customers. So we expect that to continue to grow. But I don't think that East West will be an organization that just because of this new opening that we would just rapidly trying to push a lot of capital in there, and we're going to continue to stay steady and will continue to be observing the market and make sure we make the wise choice. But I expect that in terms of a sustainable growth opportunity in the Greater China region and also particularly, as you mentioned, throughout Asia, we feel pretty confident that, that will be something that we expect a good opportunity going forward because the Chinese business also have expanded into Southeast Asia, whether it's Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, et cetera.

因此，我們確實認為，即使在大流行期間，當中國實際上被邊境關閉時，也有很大的增長空間。我們仍在尋找增加貸款的方法，我們仍然會帶來更多的新客戶。所以我們預計它會繼續增長。但我不認為 East West 會成為一個組織，僅僅因為這個新的開放，我們就會迅速嘗試向那裡註入大量資本，我們將繼續保持穩定，並將繼續觀察市場，確保我們做出明智的選擇。但我預計，就大中華地區的可持續增長機會而言，特別是正如你提到的，整個亞洲，我們非常有信心，這將是我們期待的一個很好的機會，因為中國業務也已經擴展到東南亞，無論是越南、泰國、印度尼西亞、馬來西亞等。

So we expect that many of our customers who continue to migrate their business into those regions, which will be beneficial to us. And that's also the reason why we opened a rep office in Singapore. So we will continue to evolve and expand into Asia and to make sure that we can effectively grow this business model as the bridge between the East and the West.

因此，我們希望我們的許多客戶繼續將業務遷移到這些地區，這將對我們有利。這也是我們在新加坡開設代表處的原因。因此，我們將繼續發展並擴展到亞洲，並確保我們能夠有效地發展這種商業模式，作為東西方之間的橋樑。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Dominic Ng for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給 Dominic Ng 作閉幕詞。

Well, I just want to thank you all for joining us for the call today, and we feel really good about where we are today in 2023, and we'll continue to march forward and looking forward to the call with you all in April. Thank you. .

好吧，我只想感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議，我們對 2023 年的今天感到非常滿意，我們將繼續前進，並期待在 4 月與大家的電話會議。謝謝。 .

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may all now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。你們現在可能都斷開連接了。