UCBH Holdings, Inc. Opens Two New Offices and Reaffirms 2005 EPS Guidance of $2.10
biz.yahoo.com
Monday April 11, 6:00 am ET
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2005--UCBH Holdings, Inc.: Representative Offices Opened in Shenzhen, China and in Taipei, Taiwan
New Offices Offer Banking Services to Trans-Pacific Customers and Further Enhance Business Development Capabilities Particularly on Trade Finance Business Across the Pacific Rim
Loan Pipeline Grows More Than 60% to Nearly $2.2 Billion as Compared with Year-end 2004 Following Record Loan Originations in the First Quarter of 2005
UCBH Holdings, Inc., the holding company of United Commercial Bank (UCB(TM)), today announced that it has opened representative offices in Shenzhen, China and in Taipei, Taiwan, further strengthening its trade finance and international banking business. With the opening of these two new offices, UCB will be able to offer its California- and New York-based customers who conduct business with companies in Mainland China and Taiwan additional trade finance services. Working in conjunction with the Hong Kong branch, the new offices further strengthen UCB's ability to provide a superior level of personalized service to customers with business interests in the Pacific Rim.
"We are very pleased with the successful opening of our new representative offices in Shenzhen and in Taipei, as we believe that Greater China represents a sizable long-term growth opportunity for us," said Mr. Thomas S. Wu, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of UCBH Holdings, Inc. "By opening these new offices, we have demonstrated our commitment to further developing our trade finance capabilities and international banking business to meet the needs of our customers. More importantly, our new offices will enhance our customers' abilities to efficiently and effectively manage their Trans-Pacific businesses.
"The presence that we began expanding in the Greater China region in 2003, combined with the substantial investments in our infrastructure in the United States, have resulted in our Company's current strong business development momentum. We are very pleased with record first quarter loan originations, which have resulted in an annualized total loan growth rate of approximately 25 percent, net of our planned multifamily and SBA loan sales. In addition, our loan pipeline at the end of the first quarter of 2005 has grown more than 60 percent to nearly $2.2 billion from $1.3 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2004. We continue to be confident that we will achieve our 2005 goals and reaffirm our 2005 EPS guidance of $2.10," Mr. Wu concluded. |
