StarBulletin.com

First Hawaiian net rises 8.8%


By

POSTED: Monday, February 02, 2009

First Hawaiian Bank said today that its fourth-quarter net income rose 8.8 percent as assets, loans and deposits increased from the pervious year.

               

     

 

Fourth-quarter net
$55.9 million

Year-earlier net
$51.4 million

       

       

The state's largest bank in terms of assets said profit increased to $55.9 million from $51.4 million, while revenue rose 1.4 percent to $163.6 million from $161.3 million. Its provision for loan and lease losses rose by 160 percent to $15.6 million from $6 million in the quarter from last year.

Nonperforming assets rose by 51.3 percent to $13.4 million from $8.9 million.

“;Our loan growth underscores the bank's commitment to our communities we serve and is a testimony of the continued confidence we have in the future,”; Dan Horner, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

Total assets grew 1.9 percent for the quarter to $12.8 billion from $12.6 billion. Total loans and leases increased 20.8 percent to $7.9 billion from $6.5 billion a year earlier, while total deposits grew 3.1 percent to $9.4 billion from $9.1 billion.

Net interest income, which reflects the difference from what the bank pays its depositors and what it brings in from loans, rose 2.7 percent to $124.3 million from $121 million, while noninterest income, which includes services charges and fees, declined by 2.4 percent to $39.3 million from $40.3 million.

Net charge-offs declined by 10.3 percent to $8.2 million from $9.2 million.

For the year, the bank earned a record $222.5 million, a 7.5 percent increase from $206.9 million in 2007.

Revenue for 2008 was $679.6 million, up 9 percent from $623.5 million.

The bank's provision for loan and lease losses nearly doubled to $39.1 million from $19.7 million, while net charge-offs for the year rose by a third to $26.3 million from $19.8 million.

Nonperforming assets rose by half to $13.4 million from $8.9 million.

Net interest income rose 6.1 percent to $498.2 million from $469.5 million, while noninterest income rose 17.8 percent to $181 million from $154 million.

First Hawaiian, founded in 1858, has 58 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan.