Cathay General Bancorp Authorizes Additional Stock Repurchase
09 May 2007 - 9:43AM
PR Newswire (US)
LOS ANGELES, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cathay General Bancorp
("Cathay", Nasdaq: CATY), the holding company for Cathay Bank,
announced today that it has completed the one-million share stock
repurchase program announced on March 6, 2007, and that its Board
of Directors has approved a new program to repurchase up to an
additional one million shares of Cathay common stock. In March
2007, the Board of Directors of Cathay approved a stock repurchase
program to buy back up to an aggregate of one million shares of
Cathay's common stock. On May 8, 2007, Cathay completed this March
2007 repurchase program under which it repurchased one million
shares of Cathay common stock for $33.8 million, or an average
price of $33.79 per share. "As with our prior stock repurchase
programs, this authorization again reflects Cathay's commitment to
effective capital management and long-term stockholder value,"
commented Dunson K. Cheng, Chairman of the Board, President, and
Chief Executive Officer of Cathay. Any repurchases will be made
from time to time on the open market at prevailing market prices or
in privately negotiated transactions. Shares repurchased are
expected to be used for employee stock options and other business
purposes. Cathay had 51,177,824 shares of common stock outstanding
at April 30, 2007. ABOUT CATHAY GENERAL BANCORP Cathay General
Bancorp is the holding company for Cathay Bank, a California
state-chartered bank. Founded in 1962, Cathay Bank offers a wide
range of financial services. Cathay Bank currently operates 30
branches in California, nine branches in New York State, one in
Massachusetts, one in Houston, Texas, three in Washington State,
three in Chicago, Illinois, one in New Jersey, a loan production
office in Dallas, and representative offices in Taipei, Hong Kong,
and Shanghai. Cathay Bank's website is found at
http://www.cathaybank.com/. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND OTHER
NOTICES Statements made in this press release, other than
statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the applicable provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 regarding management's
beliefs, projections, and assumptions concerning future results and
events. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not
limited to, such words as "believes," "expects," "anticipates,"
"intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "could,"
"predicts," "potential," "continue," or the negative of such terms
and other comparable terminology or similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees. They involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause
the actual results, performance, or achievements of Cathay General
Bancorp to be materially different from any future results,
performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties and other
factors include, but are not limited to, adverse developments or
conditions related to or arising from: expansion into new market
areas; acquisitions of other banks, if any; fluctuations in
interest rates; demographic changes; earthquake or other natural
disasters; competitive pressures; deterioration in asset or credit
quality; changes in the availability of capital; legislative and
regulatory developments; changes in business strategy; and general
economic or business conditions in California and other regions
where Cathay Bank has operations. These and other factors are
further described in Cathay General Bancorp's Annual Report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, its reports and
registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission ("SEC") and other filings it makes in the future with
the SEC from time to time. Cathay General Bancorp has no intention
and undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements or to publicly announce the results of any revision of
any forward-looking statement to reflect future developments or
events. Cathay General Bancorp's filings with the SEC are available
to the public from commercial document retrieval services and at
the website maintained by the SEC at http://www.sec.gov/, or by
request directed to Cathay General Bancorp, 777 N. Broadway, Los
Angeles, CA 90012, Attention: Investor Relations (213) 625-4749.
DATASOURCE: Cathay General Bancorp CONTACT: Heng W. Chen of Cathay
General Bancorp, +1-213-625-4752 Web site:
http://www.cathaybank.com/
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