LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Hope Bancorp Inc. (HOPE) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $43 million.

The Los Angeles-based bank said it had earnings of 34 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 31 cents per share.

The bank holding company posted revenue of $178.8 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $126.5 million, which fell short of Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $126.7 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $171 million, or $1.35 per share. Revenue was reported as $516.3 million.

Hope Bancorp shares have decreased nearly 2% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Wednesday, shares hit $14.59, a rise of 5% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on HOPE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/HOPE

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News