City Bank parent's net
up 1.2% despite economy

Star-Bulletin staff

CB Bancshares Inc., parent of City Bank and International Savings & Loan Association, had a profit of $1.98 million in the first quarter of this year, up 1.2 percent from $1.95 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Per-share earnings were 56 cents in the latest quarter, compared with 55 cents in the 1998 period.

Ronald K. Migita, president and chief executive officer, said earnings were held back by Hawaii's sluggish economy. The bank holding company is seeking ways of improving its core earnings, he said.

Assets as of March 31 were $1.41 billion, down 3.6 percent from $1.47 billion on the same date last year. Deposits of $1.06 billion were up 3 percent from $1.03 billion a year earlier and loans of $959,000 were down 6.6 percent from $1.03 billion on March 31, 1998.

CB Bancshares said it cut its nonperforming assets by 23.8 percent to $28.2 million, from $37 million a year ago.