First Hawaiian earnings up 6.6%
First Hawaiian Bank said yesterday it boosted earnings 6.6 percent in the fourth quarter to wrap up its 11th consecutive year of annual income growth.
The state's largest bank in terms of assets posted net income last quarter of $51.4 million versus $48.2 million in the year-earlier period.
For the full year, First Hawaiian had net income of $206.9 million, up 4.2 percent from $198.5 million in 2006. Revenue for the year was up 6.6 percent to $623.6 million from $585.2 million.
"During 2007, we experienced growth in all of our core business lines," said Don Horner, president and chief executive of First Hawaiian. "Our relationship strategy continued to serve us well. Despite a slowing economy and margin pressure, we remain optimistic about continued earnings growth in 2008, our 150th anniversary year."
First Hawaiian's assets, loans, leases and deposits all rose in 2007 from the previous year. Assets increased 4.9 percent to $12.6 billion from $12 billion. Loans and leases grew 2.7 percent to $6.5 billion from $6.4 billion. And deposits increased 2.1 percent to $9.1 billion from $8.9 billion.
Nonperforming assets as a percentage of total assets increased to 0.07 percent from 0.01 percent.
First Hawaiian said 2007 was marked by several notable achievements. The bank received an outstanding Community Reinvestment Act rating from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. for the fifth consecutive year. The FDIC recognized First Hawaiian as the leading small-business lender in Hawaii based on the total dollar volume of loans the bank makes to small businesses. And Standard & Poor's increased the bank's long-term credit rating from A+ to AA-, the highest of any bank in Hawaii.
First Hawaiian, which has 58 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan, is a subsidiary of Honolulu-based BancWest Corp. BancWest's parent is BNP Paribas SA of France.