Good afternoon, and welcome to the 2026 Cathay General Bancorp Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I am Dunson K. Cheng, Executive Chairman of the Board, and will preside over this meeting today. It is now shortly after 5:00 A.M. Pacific Time on May 18th, and this meeting is officially called to order. Our Corporate Secretary, Ms. May K. Chan, will act as Secretary of the Meeting. We are also being assisted today by Ms. Christel Pauli from American Election Services and will serve as the proxy tabulation agent and Inspector of Elections. I would like to begin by recognizing members of the Board of Directors who are present with us today. Joining us this evening are Mr. Peter Wu, Vice Chairman of the Board. Mr. Tony M. Tang, Vice Chairman of the Board. Ms. Angie Connell, Chair of the Risk Committee. Ms. Elizabeth Woo, Chairman of the Audit Committee.
Mr. Chang M. Liu, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Shally Wang and Ms. Lana Chan. In addition, current directors who are present and are standing for nomination to the board this year are Mr. Nelson Chung, our Lead Independent Director. Mr. Felix S. Fernandez, Chair of our Investment Committee. Ms. Maan-Huei Hung, Chair of our Nomination and Governance Committee. Mr. and Dr. Richard Sun, Chair of the Compensation Committee. Executive officer here are Albert J. Wang, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Diana G. Deen, Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of the bank. Albert Sun, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer of the bank. Thomas M. Lo, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of the bank. Jim Hani, Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer of the bank.
We are also joined by representative of KPMG, our independent auditor, and Megan Boschelli of Troutman Pepper Locke, the company's SEC counsel. I will now turn the floor over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Chang M. Liu, to proceed with the business of the meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Cheng. The Secretary of the meeting will now provide a disclaimer and report on the mailing of notice of this meeting in the presence of a quorum.
Thank you, Mr. Liu. Before proceeding, I wish to remind you that we may make forward-looking statements during the meeting. Actual results may differ materially, and you should refer to our filings with the SEC for information on factors that cause such results to differ. This meeting is held pursuant to a notice mailed on April 16, 2026, to each stockholder of record as of March 26, 2026. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at this meeting is available for examination. It has also been on file at the office of the company for the last 10 days and available for examinations by any stockholder during ordinary business hours.
I've been advised by the Inspector of Elections that immediately prior to the commencement of the meeting, 83.03% of the company's issued and outstanding share of common stock are represented in person or by proxy at today's meeting. Since the majority of the company's outstanding shares of common stock is represented today in person or by proxy, a quorum is present. The meeting is duly constituted, and the business of the meeting may proceed.
Thank you. I now declare that there is a quorum for the transaction of business and ask the Secretary to insert the notice of the meeting in the affidavit of mailing of the notice in the minute book of the company. If any shareholder would like to make a comment or ask a question regarding any of the proposals to be voted upon, please submit your comment or question through the web portal now. Ms. Secretary, please present before the meeting the proposals to be voted upon today.
Proposal 1 is the election of four Class 3 directors to serve until the 2029 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their successors have been elected and qualified. The board nominees of class three directors are Mr. Nelson Chung, Mr. Felix S. Fernandez, Ms. Maan-Huei Hung, and Richard Sun. The board of directors unanimously recommends that you vote for each nominee. Proposal 2 is the vote of an advisory non-binding resolution to approve the compensation paid to Cathay General Bancorp's named executive officers, as disclosed in the proxy statement. The board of directors unanimously recommend that you vote for this proposal. Proposal 3 is on an advisory non-binding vote for the frequency of future advisory non-binding votes on executive compensation. The board of directors unanimously recommends that you vote for the frequency of every year on this proposal.
Proposal 4 is the ratification of the appointment of KPMG LLP as Cathay General Bancorp's independent registered public accounting firm for the 2026 fiscal year. The board of directors unanimously recommend that you vote for this proposal.
Thank you. If there are any remaining questions, comments regarding any of the proposals, please submit them now. Seeing that there are no more questions or comments, we will now proceed to voting. It is 5:06 P.M. Pacific Time on May 18th, 2026. The polls are now open. Any stockholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change your vote may do so by clicking on the voting button on the web portal and following the instructions there. Stockholders who have already mailed in their proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their votes do not need to take any further action. Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I now declare the polls closed at 5:07 P.M. Pacific Time on May 18th, 2026. Ms. Secretary, please present a report of the preliminary voting results.
Thank you, Mr. Liu. On Proposal 1, the election of directors, I've been advised by the Inspector of Election that each nominee has received a majority of the votes cast at this meeting. Accordingly, Nelson Chung, Felix S. Fernandez, Maan-Huei Hung, and Richard Sun have been elected as Class 3 directors to serve until the 2029 annual meeting of stockholders and until their successors have been elected and qualified. On Proposal 2, the advisory non-binding resolution to approve the compensation paid to our named executive officers as described in the proxy statement, the proposal has received an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of Bancorp's common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting. Accordingly, the advisory non-binding resolution on our executive compensation has been approved.
On Proposal 3, the advisory non-binding vote on the frequency of future advisory votes on executive compensation, the proposal has received an affirmative vote of annual frequency of the holders of a majority of the shares of Bancorp's common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting. Accordingly, stockholders approved on an advisory non-binding basis an annual frequency for future votes on executive compensation. Finally, with respect to Proposal 4, ratifying the appointment of KPMG, the proposal has received an affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the shares of Bancorp's common stock present in person or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the meeting. Accordingly, the appointment of KPMG as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2026 fiscal year has been ratified.
The Inspector of the Election will furnish me, as Secretary, with a written report of the final vote count with respect to the matters voted on today, which shall be included in the minutes of the meeting.
Thank you for the report, Ms. Secretary. There being no further business to come before the meeting, the formal part of this stockholders meeting is now adjourned. I will now turn the floor back to Mr. Chang for closing remarks.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would now like to provide a brief overview of the company's performance over the past year. We are pleased to report strong financial results for 2025. Net income totaled $315.1 million, representing a 10.2% increase over the prior year. Earnings per diluted share were $4.54. Return on average stockholders' equity reached 10.87%, while Return on average assets improved to 1.33%. These results reflect our disciplined approach to balance sheet management, effective capital deployment, operational excellence, and our ability to optimize funding costs as market conditions evolved. Balance sheet growth remains solid, with total loans increasing by 4% to $20.15 billion, and deposits grew 6.1% to $20.89 billion.
We continue to maintain a strong capital position, ending the year with a Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 13.27%, well above the regulatory threshold to be considered well-capitalized. In 2025, we returned $178.6 million to stockholders through our share repurchase program, underscoring our commitment to balanced capital allocation. Additionally, beginning the first quarter of 2026, we have increased our quarterly dividend from $0.34 per share to $0.38 per share. As we look ahead to 2026, we remain focused on strengthening our core businesses, investing in innovations that matter to our clients, and continuing to operate with discipline and integrity. We are optimistic about our trajectory and remain committed to deliver long-term stockholder value through sustainable growth and prudent management. Thank you for your continued confidence and support. Have a good evening.
This does conclude today's meeting. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.