BancWest
earnings rise 13%

First Hawaiian Bank's parent,
now owned by BNP Paribas,
says Hawaii was profitable

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

BancWest Corp., parent of First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of the West, had a 13 percent increase in its fourth-quarter profit, reporting a net of $63.5 million compared to $56.2 million in the last quarter of 2000. There are no per-share figures since the bank now has only one shareholder, France-based BNP Paribas, which concluded its acquisition of BancWest in December.

Cash earnings in the latest quarter were up 12.9 percent at $72.7 million for the last three months of 2001, compared to $64.4 million in the final quarter of 2000.

The figure is derived from cash flow and considered by analysts to be more important in a bank's performance than the net bottom line because the earnings come from day-to-day banking operations.

Part of the year-over-year improvement came from BancWest acquisitions in 2001, which included 30 mainland branches from First Security Corp. early in the year and Guam-Saipan branches of Union Bank of California in midyear.

But the report issued yesterday shows the bulk of the improvement was from ongoing operations, a fact that made Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Walter A. Dods Jr. happy after the events of late 2001.

"Considering the economic fallout from Sept. 11, our sustained progress is gratifying," Dods said. "Bank of the West continues to grow at a strong double-digit percentage in Western states and First Hawaiian Bank also increased earnings despite the economic hit the islands have taken since September," Dods said.

On Dec. 20, BNP Paribas, headquartered in Paris and a major investor in BancWest since May 1998, concluded its acquisition of the 55 percent of BancWest shares it did not own, for $35 cash a share in a $2.5 billion transaction.

That made BancWest a wholly owned subsidiary of the French bank but BancWest officials said they expect to publish a separate financial report at least through this year.

BancWest ended 2001 with assets of $21.6 billion, up 17.2 percent from $18.5 billion at the end of 2000. Loans and leases of $15.2 billion were up 8.9 percent from a year-earlier $13.97 billion. Deposits of $15.3 billion were up 8.5 percent from $14.13 billion.

That picture will change substantially with BNP Paribas' pending acquisition from Japanese owners of United California Bank, an $11 billion business based in Los Angeles. UCB will become part of BancWest later this year, doubling its presence in California.

For all of 2001, BancWest had a profit of $254.8 million, up 17.8 percent from $216.4 million in 2000.