City Bank parent’s
earnings up 15.3%

Lower expenses helped
produce the increase in
the third quarter

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

CB Bancshares Inc., parent of City Bank and International Savings & Loan Association, had a 15.3 percent increase in its third-quarter net income, helped by lower expenses and improvements in its loan business.

The company late yesterday reported a profit of $2.48 million for the three months through Sept. 30 compared with a net of $2.15 million for the year-earlier quarter. Per-share earnings of 72 cents in the latest quarter were up 20 percent from 60 cents in the 1998 quarter.

The company, which has 22 branches on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island, reported a 1.3 percent reduction in net interest income, $15.25 million in the latest quarter compared with $15.45 million a year earlier.

However, the profit was lifted by lower expenses in most areas of the CB Bancshares' operations and a lower provision for credit losses because the company improved the quality of its loans and other assets, said Ronald K. Migita, president and chief executive officer.

The company said it achieved a significant decrease in its nonperforming loans. CB Bancshares ended its third quarter with assets of $1.56 billion, up 12 percent from just under $1.4 billion a year earlier. Deposits of $1.1 billion were up 4.8 percent from $1.05 billion and loans of $1.11 billion were up 10.2 percent from just under $1 billion at the end of September 1998.