OC Banks Roar Back to Life

CommerceWest Bank attained a remarkable achievement in the fourth quarter—its $582 million loan portfolio had zero non-performing loans despite being in the middle of a pandemic that has devasted thousands of businesses.

“CW maintained a very strong credit culture prior and during this pandemic and economic downturn,” Chief Executive Ivo Tjan told the Business Journal. “Our customized loan and deposit products ensured that our clients had the right size loans, right structure, right covenants and treasury management products to help manage their businesses through the pandemic.  

“We have also continued to stay disciplined to our core competency of industries that we service, which helped us become experts in those industries to provide sound financial advice during the economic downturn.”

It was one of five publicly traded banks based in Orange County that reported soaring profits, an early indicator that the banks and their customers have overcome the past year’s financial crisis.
 
It’s quite a change from last March when within the span of a few weeks, shares of each of the local publicly traded banks dropped from 30% to 60% as investors bet on widespread defaults by customers.
Since April 1, shares of these five banks have climbed anywhere from 25% to more than 100%.

“The banking industry as a whole is stronger and more well capitalized today, than the past,” said Tjan, who in 2001 founded the bank (OTC: CWBK).

What follows here and page 30 are summaries of OC banks’ recent earnings resuts and corporate news.