First Hawaiian's profits soar 28 percent
Hawaii's biggest bank posted $47 million in income last quarter
First Hawaiian Bank, the state's largest bank in assets, said yesterday it posted record earnings for the fourth quarter and all of 2005.
The subsidiary of Honolulu-based BancWest Corp. had net income last quarter of $47.1 million, a 28.1 percent gain over a year earlier, and full-year earnings of $171.9 million, a gain of 19.7 percent over 2004.
"We had major growth in assets and deposits and solid performance in all of our major lines of business," said Don Horner, president and chief executive of First Hawaiian.
The bank, benefiting from Hawaii's strong economy, increased its assets 9.3 percent to $11.6 billion at the end of December. Bank of Hawaii Corp. said last month its assets were $10.2 billion at the end of 2005.
First Hawaiian's loans and leases increased 9.5 percent to $6 billion at the end of last quarter while deposits grew 11.9 percent to $8.6 billion.
The bank, founded in 1858, is the oldest in the state. First Hawaiian has 56 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan.
Last month, BancWest reported fourth-quarter net income of $156.1 million, up 21.6 percent from a year earlier, and full-year earnings of $590.4 million, up 24.7 percent. BancWest, which includes San Francisco-based Bank of the West, has $66.3 billion in assets.
BancWest's parent is French investment giant BNP Paribas SA.