LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) on Monday reported third-quarter earnings of $72.4 million.

The bank, based in Los Angeles, said it had earnings of 93 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 91 cents per share.

The holding company for Cathay Bank posted revenue of $180.8 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $164.7 million, which also beat Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $163.7 million.

Cathay shares have risen 37% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $43.95, an increase of 81% 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 CATY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/CATY

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