LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income of $75.3 million.

The Los Angeles-based bank said it had earnings of 98 cents per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 94 cents per share.

The holding company for Cathay Bank posted revenue of $189 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $175.3 million, also topping Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $167.4 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $298.3 million, or $3.80 per share. Revenue was reported as $652.4 million.

Cathay shares have decreased almost 1% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $42.63, a rise of 22% 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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