PacWest Bancorp reports Q4 EPS 33c, consensus 97c

Reports Q4 ROATCE 14.39%, CET1 ratio 8.7%. Paul Taylor, President and CEO, commented, "In the fourth quarter, we initiated a new strategic plan designed to maximize shareholder value by strengthening our community bank focus, exiting non-core products, and improving our operational efficiency. The first strategic step we took was to sell $1 billion of available-for-sale securities, resulting in a loss on sale of $49 million. The proceeds were used to pay down FHLB borrowings and to improve the capital and liquidity position of the Bank going forward. Secondly, we recorded goodwill impairment of $29 million related to Civic as part of a strategy to restructure this lending subsidiary. Goodwill is a non-cash charge and has no impact on our regulatory capital ratios, cash flows, or liquidity position. We believe these actions will result in an improvement in the profitability and risk profile of Civic going forward. Next, we are slowing loan growth to preserve capital and strengthen our balance sheet, including shutting down our operations in our Premium Finance and Multi-Family lending groups. Finally, we are working to improve the overall operational efficiency of the Bank. As a first step in this initiative, we recorded early retirement benefits and severance expense of $5.7 million."