Preferred Bank (PFBC) 2026 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Preferred Bank first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 Preferred Bank 2026 年第一季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）請注意，本活動將被錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to [Mr. Evan New]. Please go ahead.

我現在要把會議交給［Evan New 先生］。請開始。

Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss Preferred Bank's financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. With me today from management are Chairman and CEO, Li Yu; President and Chief Operating Officer, Wellington Chen; Chief Financial Officer, Edward Czajka; and Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Johnny Hsu.

各位好，感謝各位參加本次會議，一同討論 Preferred Bank 截至 2026 年 3 月 31 日止第一季的財務結果。今天與我一同出席的管理團隊成員包括：董事長兼執行長李宇；總裁兼營運長 Wellington Chen；財務長 Edward Czajka；以及副營運長 Johnny Hsu。

Management will provide a brief summary of the results, and then we will open up the call to your questions. During the course of this conference call, statements made by management may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on specific assumptions that may or may not prove correct.

管理團隊將先簡要說明本季結果，接著我們將開放提問。在本次電話會議過程中，管理團隊所作之陳述可能包含《1995 年私人證券訴訟改革法》所定義的前瞻性陳述。此類前瞻性陳述係基於特定假設，而該等假設可能正確也可能不正確。

Forward-looking statements are also subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to Preferred Bank's operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of Preferred Bank. For a detailed description of these risks and uncertainties, please refer to the SEC required documents, the bank files with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC.

前瞻性陳述亦受已知與未知之風險、不確定性及其他與 Preferred Bank 營運及商業環境相關因素影響；上述因素多數難以預測，且其中許多超出 Preferred Bank 的控制範圍。關於這些風險與不確定性的詳細說明，請參閱向 SEC 申報之必要文件，以及本行向聯邦存款保險公司（Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation，FDIC）提交之文件。

If any of these uncertainties materialize or any of these assumptions prove incorrect, Preferred Bank's results could differ materially from its expectations as set forth in these statements. Preferred Bank assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.

若上述任何不確定性成真，或任何假設被證明不正確，Preferred Bank 的實際結果可能與這些陳述所載之預期有重大差異。Preferred Bank 不承擔更新此類前瞻性陳述之義務。

At this time, I'd like to turn the call over to Mr. Li Yu. Please go ahead.

此刻，我想把電話交給李宇先生。請開始。

Thank you very much. I'm very pleased to report the first quarter net income of $31.3 million or $2.53 a share. This quarter's net income was negatively impacted by the placement of a large relationship non-performing status. If you recall, at probably February and March, we have issued a press release and informing all of you that we have placed a 9 loan relationship on a non-accrual basis.

非常感謝。我很高興報告第一季淨利為 3,130 萬美元，或每股 2.53 美元。本季淨利受到一筆大型關係戶被列為不良狀態的負面影響。如各位所記得，大約在 2 月與 3 月，我們曾發布新聞稿並告知各位，我們已將一組 9 筆貸款關係戶列為停止計息（non-accrual）。

This relationship consists of two C&I loans of more $2 million and risk are all in commercial real estate loans in the total amount of only $77 million on a nonaccrual basis. Shortly after the announcement we're able to sell one loan at par of $9.4 million. And on April 1, we have sold another two loans at par for $48.5 million.

該關係戶包含兩筆金額超過 200 萬美元的工商業（C&I）貸款，其餘風險皆為商用不動產貸款；合計僅 7,700 萬美元列為停止計息。公告後不久，我們即以票面價值（par）出售其中一筆 940 萬美元的貸款。並於 4 月 1 日，我們又以票面價值出售另外兩筆貸款，金額為 4,850 萬美元。

So as of today, we have effectively reduced the relationship by roughly 50%. And we'll continue our progress in the second quarter and in the third quarter, hopefully, by the time that we should have substantial resolution on this situation. Loan growth is moderate 1.1% sequentially and deposit growth was moderate 1.2% sequentially.

因此截至今日，我們已有效將該關係戶曝險降低約 50%。我們將在第二季與第三季持續推進，並希望屆時能對此情況取得實質性解決。貸款成長按季為溫和的 1.1%，存款成長按季為溫和的 1.2%。

Market competition, especially in the pricing end of it has been very severe. It seems to me that the war in the Middle East is trending towards a more stabilized basis. I assume -- I hope our country to soon concentrate on our economic affairs given the assuming months.

市場競爭，尤其是在定價方面，一直非常激烈。在我看來，中東戰事的走向似乎正趨於更穩定的狀態。我假設——也希望我國能在接下來的幾個月把重心放回經濟事務上。

Our net interest margin was 3.457% for this quarter, which is down from 3.74% in the previous quarter. Again, the reversal of interest income is the main reason. Since this reversal of interest income is nonrecurring, we're very hopeful especially when there seem to be no imminent rate movements.

本季淨利差為 3.457%，低於前一季的 3.74%。同樣地，利息收入的回轉（reversal）是主要原因。由於這項利息收入回轉屬於一次性，我們非常樂觀，尤其在看起來短期內利率沒有明顯變動的情況下。

We're very hopeful that our net interest margin will rebound in the ensuing quarters. Our operating overhead or non-interest expense has been stable, and we will continue to keep it on a stable basis in the future. And for your information that the bank has repurchased roughly 400,000 shares of our own common stock for the total consideration of roughly [$89], $90 a share.

我們非常希望淨利差能在接下來幾季回升。我們的營運費用／非利息費用維持穩定，未來也將持續保持穩定。另供各位參考，本行已回購約 40 萬股自家普通股，總對價約為每股［89］、90 美元。

Thank you very much. I'm ready for your questions.

非常感謝。我已準備好回答各位的問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。（接線員指示）

Matthew Clark, Piper Sandler.

Matthew Clark，Piper Sandler。

Hey, good morning, everyone. Just on the loans held for sale, the move there. I'm assuming $48.5 million of that is the two loans that you sold on April 1, at par, but just want to confirm that. And also what else is in there?

各位早安。關於待售貸款（loans held for sale）那邊的變動。我猜其中 4,850 萬美元是你們在 4 月 1 日以票面價值出售的兩筆貸款，但我想確認一下。另外裡面還包含什麼？

Yes. You're correct. Part of that $76 million, $48.5 million is the two notes sold at par on April 1. There's two other notes in there that we are actively marketing at this point as well to sell the notes. That's why they're placed in held for sale.

是的，你說得沒錯。在那 7,600 萬美元當中，有 4,850 萬美元是 4 月 1 日以票面價值出售的兩張票據。裡面還有另外兩張票據，我們目前也正在積極行銷以出售，因此才會列為待售。

Okay. And any any pricing thoughts there on the other two?

了解。那另外兩筆的定價有什麼想法嗎？

Well, we hear they would like to get as much as close as to the part as possible. And we have been getting down some of the loans, okay? So this is our goal.

嗯，我們聽到的是，他們希望能盡可能接近票面價值（par）。而且我們也已經把部分貸款金額往下調整了，好嗎？所以這就是我們的目標。

Got it. Okay. Great. And then on deposit costs. I want to get a sense for where your deposit costs were either at the end of March or in March and your thoughts on the competition going forward along those lines, just remind us how much you have in CDs coming due in 2Q and the rate it's rolling off on and the renewal rate that you expect to come on on?

明白。好的，很好。接著談存款成本。我想了解你們在 3 月底或 3 月的存款成本大概在哪裡，以及你們對未來競爭的看法。也請提醒我們第二季到期的定存（CDs）有多少、目前到期的利率是多少、以及你們預期續作的利率會落在哪裡？

Well, that's a lot of questions in one, Matthew, but I'll take a stab at it. The deposit costs are coming down but not to the same -- not in the same velocity they were in Q4. So that that is starting to slow in terms of the lowering of deposit costs as we go forward.

Matthew，你這一題包含很多問題，但我先試著回答。存款成本正在下降，但下降速度不像第四季那麼快。因此，隨著我們往後走，存款成本下行的速度開始放緩。

For your record, March deposit cost was [$3.10 billion] overall. In terms of maturities, we have $1.35 billion maturing in the quarter at a [$389 billion] rate those will likely be put on at similar rates, maybe a little bit lower, but we're getting close to the point where we're reaching stagnation in terms of the rolling off of CDs to newer lower-priced CDs.

供你參考，3 月的存款成本整體為［31.0 億美元］。就到期而言，本季有 13.5 億美元到期，利率為［3890 億］；這些很可能會以相近利率續作，可能略低一些，但我們已接近一個點：定存從舊的高利率滾動到新的較低利率定存，在降幅方面正趨於停滯。

Okay. Great. And last one for me, just on the expense run rate going forward. How should we think about non-interest expense?

好的，很好。最後一題，關於未來費用的趨勢。非利息費用應該怎麼看？

So we're at roughly [23.5%] for the quarter. Over $1 million of that was heightened levels of payroll tax related to bonus payout and related to stock vesting, which both occurred in the first quarter. So as we go forward into Q2, I'm looking for something in the high 22 to low 23s.

本季大約在［23.5%］左右。其中超過 100 萬美元是較高的薪資稅水準，與獎金發放及股票歸屬（vesting）相關，而這兩項都發生在第一季。因此進入第二季後，我預期會落在 22% 高段到 23% 低段。

Gary Tenner, D.A. Davidson.

Gary Tenner，D.A. Davidson。

Thanks. Good morning. I wanted to ask, hey, Just wanted to ask on loan growth. I mean the production, I think, must have been pretty decent this quarter, just to have kind of the line growth of LHI and loans up for sales. So can you talk about production, competition and pricing in terms of [volume].

謝謝，早安。我想問一下貸款成長。我是說，本季的承作量（production）我想應該相當不錯，才能在 LHI 與待售貸款增加的情況下，整體貸款仍有這樣的線性成長。所以你能談談承作、競爭以及以［量］來看定價的情況嗎？

Pricing is all over the place. We're still facing a lot of people is pricing below six on the fixed rate basis. We can't afford to do that. So -- and especially when the movement of the interest rate is unclear at this point in time, we have not been getting them the rate cuts that were previously for Canada, okay? So most people have been having, let's say, frankly speaking, they're doing rate a little bit less than I expected.

定價到處都是。我們仍然面臨很多人在固定利率基礎上把價格壓到 6 以下。我們做不起那樣的價格。所以——尤其是在目前利率走勢還不明朗的情況下，我們一直沒有拿到先前加拿大那邊的降息幅度，好嗎？所以大多數人一直在做的，坦白說，他們做出的利率比我預期的還要低一些。

Okay. So yeah, so they're doing long-term fixed rate loans lower than you want to do them. In terms of just the activity levels and quality of credit that you're seeing come through? How does that look today?

好的。所以是的，他們做長期固定利率貸款的利率比你想做的還低。就你看到的活動量以及進來的授信品質而言？今天看起來如何？

Well, we see the quality pretty much the same situation. And I don't think the industry has been losing on the quality. And based on my colleagues have been very much controlling themselves in that aspect. And likewise, obviously, we try to do that too.

嗯，我們看到的品質大致上還是同樣的情況。我不認為業界在品質上有放鬆。根據我同業的情況，他們在這方面都控制得很嚴。當然，我們也同樣努力這麼做。

Andrew Terrell, Stephens.

Andrew Terrell，Stephens。

Hey, good afternoon. Hey, I wanted to start on just the margin, the $3.4 million interest reversal. It seems like that's 19 basis points, 20 basis points of margin or so. Just as that normalizes in 2Q, I guess if we add that back in, it gets closer to like a [375] type margin similar to your fourth quarter. I just wanted to verify that's how you're kind of thinking about margin for 2Q? Or how should we think about trends of the NIM going into 2Q and then kind of throughout the year?

嗨，午安。我想先從利差談起，那個 340 萬美元的利息沖回。看起來那大概是 19 個基點、20 個基點左右的利差影響。當它在第二季正常化時，我想如果把它加回去，利差會更接近像是 [375] 那種、跟你們第四季類似的水準。我只是想確認一下，你們對第二季利差的思考大概是這樣嗎？或者我們應該如何看待淨利息收益率（NIM）進入第二季以及接下來全年趨勢？

Yeah. I think you're -- directionally, you're correct, but probably about 5 basis points high there. So we're -- the margin for March came in at [3.71] just so you know that. And so we're looking for something in that area as we go forward.

是的。我想你——方向上是對的，但你那裡可能高了大概 5 個基點。所以——3 月的利差是 [3.71]，讓你知道一下。所以我們往後大概就是看那個區間。

Now with the sale of the note on April 1, we are going to recoup some interest that we reversed out. So that's going to be a little bit of a tailwind for Q2. So it might be a little higher than that. But right around the [370] number, I think, is probably good for us.

另外，隨著 4 月 1 日出售那張票據，我們會收回一些先前沖回的利息。所以這會對第二季有一點順風，可能會比那個數字稍高一些。但我認為大概在 [370] 左右，對我們來說應該是合理的。

Great. Okay. And then just on the note sales, good to see you guys get out of get out of them in April at a pretty good price. Should we expect that when you talk about resolution of some of the remainder of these credits by kind of third quarter time frame, is note sales the primary avenue in which you're seeking to remediate or any other planned kind of actions on the non-performers?

很好，好的。然後關於票據出售，很高興看到你們在 4 月以相當不錯的價格把它們處理掉。當你們談到大概在第三季左右解決剩餘部分的這些授信時，票據出售會是你們尋求改善/處置的主要途徑嗎？還是對於不良資產還有其他計畫中的行動？

It's obviously, that is the note sales is the quickest and best for us if we can get the price that we want to get, okay? And that is really also like pricing issue for us. And actually, each loan has its different nature. Most clear situation is the loan-to-value ratio based on appraisal. Normally speaking, that obviously that when the situation narrow, you don't get as good a pricing as the sort of the loan with a bigger margin in a situation.

很明顯，如果我們能拿到想要的價格，票據出售對我們來說是最快、也是最好的方式，好嗎？而這其實也回到定價問題。實際上，每一筆貸款的性質都不同。最清楚的情況是依據鑑價的貸款價值比（LTV）。一般來說，當緩衝空間變窄時，你拿不到像那種在情況上有更大安全邊際的貸款那麼好的價格。

So in the meantime, the other resolution process, which is for closure process still going up. And right now, most of the loan has been filed bankruptcy. So we have to go through dealing with the bankruptcy too, and it depends on what the bankruptcy judge is awarding.

同時，另一個處置流程，也就是止贖流程仍在推進。而目前大多數貸款都已申請破產，所以我們也必須處理破產程序，並且取決於破產法官如何裁定。

They might award in certain cases, they have more time to selling it, to operate it, to reorganize it, that's something out of here. But to the extent we can get them immediately then we will resell them. So therefore, each property is kind of has a different resolution nature, not that it's very necessarily predictable.

在某些案例中，法官可能會裁定給他們更多時間去出售、去營運、去重整，這就不是我們能控制的。但只要我們能立即取得，我們就會再把它們轉售。因此，每一個物件的處置方式都不太一樣，不見得非常可預測。

Yeah. Understood. Okay. I appreciate it. And then just one more for me on the some of the commentary around competition. I understand it's a tougher market here. Just wanted to maybe reframe expectations on kind of loan and deposit growth for the year.

是的，了解。好的，謝謝。然後我還有一個問題，關於你們對競爭的一些評論。我理解這裡市場更艱難。只是想也許重新框定一下今年貸款與存款成長的預期。

If I add back in kind of the HFS loan this quarter, it looks like you were kind of tracking mid-single digits. Do you feel like in this competitive backdrop, a decent cadence through the year for loan growth? Or are we more likely to see some compression just given the competitive environment?

如果我把本季的 HFS（持供出售）貸款加回去，看起來你們大概是在中個位數成長的軌道上。在這樣的競爭背景下，你覺得今年貸款成長能維持不錯的節奏嗎？還是更可能看到一些壓縮，因為競爭環境的關係？

Yeah. I think about 3 months ago in the press conference, I was saying internally, we're guiding ourselves doing high single digit. So -- but however, internally, we didn't know there's a war in Iran. So whether how much the change on that issue alone, we do not know. And plus, we seem to have administration that is presenting more changes in every aspect of situation that usually bank gets related to any of the changes they want to make.

是的。我想大概 3 個月前在記者會上，我在內部說，我們給自己的指引是做高個位數成長。所以——但不過，內部當時並不知道伊朗會有戰爭。所以單就那個議題會帶來多大變化，我們不知道。再加上，我們似乎有一個政府/行政當局在各方面都提出更多變動，而銀行通常都會受到他們想做的任何變更所影響。

So we -- our situation right now is that we're bouncing back towards forward in terms of our own internal expectation so on. We have to be realistic. When the war is going on, when there's no petroleum, when the prices go to the roof, you're not going to say the same loan demand as you are in a peace type situation. So I guess all these kind of situations, all we can do is stay alert, but we still hope that this will be a growth year for Preferred Bank.

所以——我們目前的狀況是，就我們內部的預期而言，我們正在回到更務實的前瞻看法。我們必須現實一點。當戰爭在進行、當沒有石油、當價格飆到天上，你不可能說貸款需求會跟和平時期一樣。所以我想在這些情況下，我們能做的就是保持警覺，但我們仍希望今年會是 Preferred Bank 的成長年。

David Feaster, Raymond James.

David Feaster，Raymond James。

Hey, good morning, everybody. I just wanted to follow up on that growth discussion. I was hoping you could maybe help break down a bit of the dynamics behind the slower growth that we're seeing. It sounds like, to your point that we may be seeing somewhat of a slowdown in demand, is that a fair characterization if I'm reading between the lines?

嗨，各位早安。我想跟進剛才的成長討論。我希望你們能幫忙拆解一下我們看到成長放緩背後的一些動態。聽起來照你剛才的說法，我們可能看到需求有些放慢；如果我從字裡行間解讀，這樣的描述公平嗎？

And then just any commentary on how payoffs and paydowns have been playing into this? And where you're seeing the most opportunity to -- within the pipeline and to grow loans right now?

另外，能否評論一下提前償還（payoffs）與分期償還/減額（paydowns）在其中扮演的角色？以及目前在管線中你們看到最多機會、可以在哪些地方推動貸款成長？

I think demand slowed down is a foregone conclusion. And I just think about what the petroleum price is going to, I mean, $100 out a barrel -- not petroleum oil, okay? When the product all related, all the various products were related and the long-term -- short-term and long-term effect is hard to measure.

我認為需求放緩已是既定事實。我只是想，石油價格會走到哪裡，我是說每桶 100 美元——不是石油油品，好嗎？當所有相關產品、各種產品都被牽動時，短期與長期的影響都很難衡量。

And the supply nature also makes you miserable. So definitely, that will affect it's just we have -- we may not see it at all yet at this point of time, reflecting the economy we have. So that is what we are pretty much confused at in-house at Preferred Bank.

而供給面的特性也會讓你很難受。所以毫無疑問，那會產生影響；只是我們——在目前這個時間點，可能還完全看不到它反映在我們所處的經濟上。所以這就是我們在 Preferred Bank 內部相當困惑的地方。

Okay. And then maybe just shifting gears back to the credit side. I mean, obviously, look, you guys have been very active managing credit. You've worked through a lot of issues. And so I assume that you've done a pretty deep dive into the book at this point.

好的。那麼也許把話題再轉回到信貸面。我是說，很明顯，你們一直非常積極地管理信貸。你們已經處理了很多問題。因此我想你們此時應該已經對整個貸款組合做了相當深入的檢視。

Do you think we're at or near an inflection here? Are you seeing continued migration? Or is some of this broader macro side? Like do you think credit is not at that point yet, and it's still pretty uncertain?

你覺得我們現在是否已經到達或接近一個拐點？你們是否仍看到持續的遷徙（信用惡化/下調）？還是其中一部分其實是更廣泛的總體宏觀因素？比如你覺得信貸還沒到那個階段，仍然相當不確定嗎？

Okay. Well, number one issue is that I don't know in the past, we have been this busy on credit or not. Again, it seems to be this transaction is really the inflection point on a current attention and so on. And even with that, it has been a long group of loans that was performing, coming pretty well until there's some irregular retail was found by, I guess, everybody knows by Western Security Bank.

好的。嗯，第一個問題是，我不知道過去我們在信貸方面是否曾經這麼忙。再說一次，看起來這筆交易確實是目前關注度等各方面的拐點。即便如此，這是一組原本表現良好的貸款，之前一直運作得相當不錯，直到我想大家都知道的——西方安全銀行（Western Security Bank）發現了一些不規則的零售情況。

Western Alliance Bank they published an announcement and the whole thing just started to get the sour from that point in the next several months to the point we have to call it a nonaccrual, and we had to resolve that immediately.

西方聯盟銀行（Western Alliance Bank）發布了一則公告，整件事從那個時間點開始在接下來幾個月逐漸轉差，最後到了我們必須將其列為停止計息（nonaccrual）的程度，而且我們必須立即處理並解決。

Other than that, our total credit picture has been remain generally stable. And I can send you the FDIC statistics about our 10-year charge-off ratio were probably lower than the average of the banking group. So I do not know that we have been struggling about credit in the past, but we are struggling about credit -- this group of credit right now.

除此之外，我們整體的信貸狀況大致仍維持穩定。我也可以把 FDIC 的統計資料寄給你：我們過去 10 年的核銷（charge-off）比率可能低於同業平均。所以我不認為我們過去在信貸方面一直在掙扎，但我們現在確實在為這一組信貸——這一組貸款——而費力處理。

Okay. And maybe just last one for me. You're still sitting on a lot of excess capital. You've been more active with the buyback. I'm just kind of curious how you think about capital priorities today? The stock moved a bit higher from where you've repurchased more recently. But just kind of curious how you think about capital priorities today?

好的。那對我來說最後一個問題。你們手上仍有很多超額資本。你們也更積極地進行庫藏股回購。我只是有點好奇，你們現在如何看待資本配置的優先順序？股價相較你們最近回購的水位已經上升了一些，但我想了解你們目前對資本優先順序的想法。

Well, there are two groups of pictures, the two group of -- I mean the two group facades. One group representing the more so or the active trader investor type. And the idea is that you have enough capital, you just go do the buyback, whatever you can immediately as much as you can. So that's one group. And then we have another group of long-term investors, probably their position of banks hardly moving a lot in the past 10 years.

嗯，這裡有兩種觀點，兩種——我是說兩種立場。一種代表比較偏積極交易、偏交易型投資人的類型。他們的想法是：你有足夠的資本，就去做回購，能立刻做多少就做多少、越多越好。這是一種。另一種則是長期投資人，可能他們持有銀行股的部位在過去 10 年幾乎沒有大幅變動。

And plus we have also a rating agency. Both thing to say, well, you need to play it safe on your capital. What you need to do is look at the future economy, look at the earnings focus on and determine on a flexible basis what you can do year from the year. So I guess our Board decided the security is above all situation. So we're leaning, David toward about our long-term shareholder viewpoint.

另外我們也有信評機構。兩者都會說：你需要在資本上採取更保守、更安全的做法。你需要看未來的經濟、看獲利的重點，並以更有彈性的方式逐年決定你能做什麼。所以我想我們董事會的決定是：安全性高於一切。因此，David，我們的取向更偏向長期股東的觀點。

Okay. That makes sense. And maybe if I could just squeeze one more in. Just kind of curious with the rate backdrop today you're obviously naturally asset sensitive. But given the market is kind of looking at this as the Fed on pause maybe for now at least, has your thoughts on managing rate sensitivity shifted at all?

好的。這很合理。那如果我可以再塞一個問題。以目前的利率環境來看，你們顯然天生是資產敏感型。但鑑於市場目前的看法是聯準會可能至少暫時按兵不動，你們在管理利率敏感度方面的想法有任何改變嗎？

Well, I will say something to add and I jointly do this all the time. My feeling is that within the next group rates. For Preferred Bank, particularly, we are sort of like near neutral in asset sensitivity, particularly because of a lot -- I mean not TCD portfolio. And under the current status when the rate is not moving, actually, our TCD rate we're paying is improving in each quarter. I don't know very slowly about nowadays because the market competition.

嗯，我想補充一點，而且我也一直和大家一起做這件事。我的感覺是，在接下來這段利率區間裡，對 Preferred Bank 來說，尤其是，我們在資產敏感度上算是接近中性，特別是因為有很多——我是說不是 TCD 投資組合。在目前利率不變的狀態下，其實我們支付的 TCD 利率每一季都在改善。我不知道現在是否改善得很慢，因為市場競爭的關係。

So we just are not clear about the economy yet. Again, likewise with all the things that were happening to us, I mean, obviously, we can always name the war is one of them. Well, would that do to our economy? Would it create -- would you be able to tell me whether we're going to have recession ahead of us? Or we have low growth ahead of us or high growth ahead of us?

所以我們對經濟仍然不太清楚。再說一次，就像發生在我們身上的所有事情一樣，我是說，很明顯，我們總是可以把戰爭列為其中之一。那會對我們的經濟造成什麼影響？它會不會造成——你能告訴我我們接下來會不會衰退嗎？或者我們會是低成長？還是高成長？

And this question is possibly generally almost everyone at this point in time because a lot of uncertainty we're facing. So this year, the challenge is, in my opinion, stay flexible, alert, flexible. I don't know Ed, how are you feeling?

而這個問題在此時此刻可能幾乎是所有人都在問的，因為我們面臨很多不確定性。所以今年的挑戰，在我看來，就是保持彈性、保持警覺、保持彈性。我不知道 Ed，你的感覺如何？

Yeah. Well, no, I think similarly, we haven't really changed much in terms of the balance sheet profile in probably the last 12 months since we -- at the higher rates in '23, started doing more fixed rate loans. That percentage between fixed and variable on the book is about the same as it's been about 75-25 variable to fixed.

是的。嗯，不，我想也差不多。我們在資產負債表結構方面其實沒有太大改變，大概在過去 12 個月都是如此。自從我們——在 2023 年利率較高時——開始做更多固定利率貸款以來，帳上固定與浮動的比例大致維持不變，約為 75/25（浮動對固定）。

Along with that, we try to get more and more of our large corporate deposit accounts, interest-bearing checking and money market tied directly to Fed funds to large corporate accounts. To the extent we can tie them to Fed funds, it makes our asset liability matching, as Mr. Yu said, more closer to neutral than the asset sensitivity we had, say, going into 2021, 2022, and we are highly asset sensitive and took advantage of all the rate hikes.

同時，我們也嘗試讓越來越多大型企業存款帳戶——計息支票與貨幣市場存款——直接與聯邦基金利率（Fed funds）掛鉤，針對大型企業客戶。只要我們能把它們與 Fed funds 掛鉤，就能讓我們的資產負債匹配，如余先生所說，更接近中性，而不是像我們在 2021、2022 年那樣高度資產敏感，並且充分受益於所有的升息。

So I think we're kind of in a pause mode in terms of change in the balance sheet and want to kind of keep it where it is right now. As much as you said, flexibility. I mean, if this war continues and we get into a point where inflation creeps up we may not be looking at rate cuts as the next rate change from the FOMC. So I think we want to stay flexible. And what we've always done is keep both sides of the balance sheet short and that way, we can react to anything.

所以我認為，就資產負債表變動而言，我們目前有點處於暫停模式，並希望大致維持在現在的狀態。正如你所說，彈性很重要。我的意思是，如果這場戰爭持續下去，而通膨開始回升，我們下一次從 FOMC 看到的利率變動可能就不會是降息。所以我認為我們希望保持彈性。而我們一貫的做法是讓資產負債表兩端都維持較短久期，這樣我們就能對任何情況做出反應。

And this will conclude our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.

以上為我們的問答環節結束。我想把電話會議交回管理層，請他們做任何結語。

Well, thank you so much for your interest in Preferred Bank that we hope what we have described today is our road map going into the next few quarters. And hopefully, that we can produce an even better financial results in the next few previous times. Thank you. Thank you very much.

嗯，非常感謝各位對 Preferred Bank 的關注。我們希望今天所描述的是我們未來幾個季度的路線圖。也希望在接下來的幾個時期，我們能交出更好的財務成果。謝謝。非常感謝。

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

本次電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參加今天的簡報。您現在可以掛線。