LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Preferred Bank (PFBC) on Monday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $20.9 million.

The Los Angeles-based bank said it had earnings of $1.40 per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.20 per share.

The independent commercial bank posted revenue of $55 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $47.4 million, also exceeding Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $45.8 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $69.5 million, or $4.65 per share. Revenue was reported as $180.2 million.

Preferred Bank shares have declined roughly 1% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Monday, shares hit $50.12, a fall 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 PFBC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/PFBC

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