10-Q: PACWEST BANCORP
Jun 4th, 2009(EDGAR Online via COMTEX) — ITEM 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
May 11, 2009, 3:26 p.m. EST
Forward-Looking Information
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains certain forward-looking information about the Company and its subsidiaries, which statements are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for “forward-looking statements” provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Such statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the control of the Company. We caution readers that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, implied or projected by, such forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:
If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes, or if any of the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements proves to be incorrect, our results could differ materially from those expressed in, implied or projected by, such forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update such forward-looking statements.
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Overview
We are a bank holding company registered under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended. Our principal business is to serve as the holding company for our subsidiary bank, Pacific Western Bank, which we refer to as Pacific Western or the Bank.
Pacific Western is a full-service community bank offering a broad range of banking products and services including: accepting time and demand deposits; originating loans, including commercial, real estate construction, SBA-guaranteed, consumer, and international loans; and providing other business-oriented products. Our operations are primarily located in Southern California and the Bank focuses on conducting business with small to medium-sized businesses and the owners and employees of those businesses in our marketplace. Through our asset-based lending operation we also operate in Arizona, Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, and Texas. At March 31, 2009, our assets totaled $4.5 billion, of which gross loans totaled $3.9 billion. At this date approximately 21% were commercial loans, 57% were commercial real estate loans, 9% were commercial real estate construction loans, 6% were residential real estate construction loans, 6% were residential real estate loans, and 1% were consumer and other loans. These percentages include some foreign loans, primarily to individuals or entities with business in Mexico, representing 1% of total loans. Our portfolio’s value and credit quality is affected in large part by real estate trends in Southern California, which have been negative over the last 18 months.
Pacific Western competes actively for deposits, and emphasizes solicitation of noninterest-bearing deposits. In managing the top line of our business, we focus on loan growth and loan yield, deposit cost, and net interest margin, as net interest income, on a year-to-date basis, accounts for 89% of our net revenues (net interest income plus noninterest income).
Key Performance Indicators
Among other factors, our operating results depend generally on the following:
The Level of Our Net Interest Income
Net interest income is the excess of interest earned on our interest-earning assets over the interest paid on our interest-bearing liabilities. The decline in market interest rates over the last 18 months and fierce competition for deposits has compressed our net interest margin. Based on our balance sheet structure the yield on our earning assets decreased more rapidly and significantly than the cost of our funding sources during 2008 and into 2009. A sustained low interest rate environment combined with tight marketplace liquidity and low loan growth may further reduce both our net interest income and net interest margin going forward.
Our primary interest-earning asset is loans. Our primary interest-bearing liabilities include deposits, borrowings, and subordinated debentures. We attempt to increase our net interest income by maintaining a high loan-to-deposit ratio and a high level of noninterest-bearing deposits. While our deposit balances will fluctuate depending on deposit holders’ perceptions of alternative yields available in the market, we attempt to minimize these variances by attracting a high percentage of noninterest-bearing deposits, which have no expectation of yield. At March 31, 2009, approximately 36% of our total deposits were noninterest-bearing deposits.
The recent disruptions in the financial credit and liquidity markets have resulted in increased competition from financial institutions seeking to maintain liquidity and this has impacted deposit flows and the rates paid on certain deposit accounts. In addition to deposits, we have borrowing capacity under various credit lines which we use for liquidity needs such as funding loan demand, managing deposit flows and interim acquisition financing. This borrowing capacity is relatively flexible and has
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become one of the least expensive sources of funds. However, our borrowing lines are considered a secondary source of liquidity as we serve our local markets and customers with our deposit products.
Loan Growth
We generally seek new lending opportunities in the $500,000 to $10 million range, try to limit loan maturities for commercial loans to one year, for construction loans up to 18 months, and for commercial real estate loans up to ten years, and to price lending products so as to preserve our interest spread and net interest margin. We sometimes encounter strong competition in pursuing lending opportunities such that potential borrowers obtain loans elsewhere at lower rates than those we offer. We have continued to reduce our exposure to residential construction and foreign loans, including limiting the amount of new loans in these categories. Our ability to make new loans is dependent on economic factors in our market area, borrower qualifications, competition, and liquidity, among other items. We expect loan growth for 2009 to be negatively affected by the current state of the economy in Southern California and the competition among banks for liquidity. Although loans, net of unearned income, declined $63.6 million during the first quarter of 2009, new loans and advances on loan commitments totaled $237 million.
The Magnitude of Credit Losses
We stress credit quality in originating and monitoring the loans we make and measure our success by the levels of our nonperforming assets, net charge-offs and allowance for credit losses. Our allowance for credit losses is the sum of our allowance for loan losses and our reserve for unfunded loan commitments. Provisions for credit losses are charged to operations as and when needed for both on and off balance sheet credit exposure. Loans which are deemed uncollectible are charged off and deducted from the allowance for loan losses. Recoveries on loans previously charged off are added to the allowance for loan losses. During the three months ended March 31, 2009, we made a provision for credit losses totaling $14.0 million based upon our reserve methodology. We considered, among other factors, the level of net charge-offs, the level and trends of classified, criticized, and nonaccrual loans, usage trends of unfunded loan commitments, general market conditions, and portfolio concentrations.
We continually review our loans to determine whether there has been any deterioration in credit quality stemming from economic conditions or other factors which may affect collectibility of our loans. Changes in economic conditions, such as inflation, unemployment, consumer spending, increases in the general level of interest rates and negative conditions in borrowers’ businesses could negatively impact our customers and cause us to adversely classify loans and increase portfolio loss factors. An increase in classified loans generally results in increased provisions for credit losses. Any deterioration in the real estate market may lead to increased provisions for credit losses because of our concentration in real estate loans.
