Hanmi posts a loss of $100 million

Hanmi Financial Corp., the largest bank catering to Korean American customers, reported a $100-million fourth-quarter loss Tuesday after adjusting its books to reflect a decline in its stock price and sharply increasing its provision for loan losses.

The Los Angeles-based parent of Hanmi Bank also said it paid $1.7 million in severance to former Chief Executive Sung Won Sohn, a former Wells Fargo & Co. economist who retired Dec. 31 after running Hanmi for three years.

The quarterly loss equaled $2.15 a share, compared with a profit of $17.3 million, or 35 cents, a year earlier. For the year Hanmi lost $60.5 million, $1.27 a share, compared with earnings of $65.6 million, or $1.33, in 2006.

Excluding unusual charges, 2007 net income was $44.1 million, or 92 cents a share.

The biggest contributor to the loss was a charge of $102.9 million, reflecting the stock’s slide from the $20 range a year ago to its close Tuesday at $8.80. Hanmi said the market value of its outstanding shares had fallen below the stockholders’ equity, or net worth, on the company’s books, requiring a write-down of the equity to bring the two amounts in line.

The Koreatown bank’s provision for credit losses was $20.7 million during the quarter, up from $1.6 million in the final quarter of 2006, as the weakening economy took its toll on loans to small and medium-sized businesses.

Analyst Donald Worthington of Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett said the write-down of goodwill -- an intangible asset that can be created in acquiring another company -- had no effect on the bank’s status as well capitalized.

Investors will look past the unusual loss to the tangible book value of the company, which didn’t change, Worthington said.