LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Preferred Bank (PFBC) on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter profit of $26.4 million.

The Los Angeles-based bank said it had earnings of $1.80 per share.

The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.72 per share.

The independent commercial bank posted revenue of $56.8 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $51.4 million, missing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $51.6 million.

For the year, the company reported profit of $95.2 million, or $6.41 per share. Revenue was reported as $193.6 million.

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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