BancWest Corp. reports
higher earnings

» A&B earnings drop 56%
» CBBI profit jumps 26%

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

First-quarter earnings at BancWest Corp., parent of First Hawaiian Bank in the islands and Bank of the West in the western mainland, were up 5.9 percent.

The bank said yesterday it posted net income of $65.4 million for the quarter, up from $61.7 million in the year-earlier quarter. It no longer has per-share figures since it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas, a Paris-based international financial giant.

The three months through March 31 made the first full quarter under BNP ownership. BancWest had said it would continue to make public its own financial results for a time even though it is not required to since it no longer has its own shares.

Core earnings, from the operations of the banking business without including merger costs and other nonrecurring items, came to $69 million in the latest quarter, up 22.1 percent from $56.5 million in the year-earlier quarter.

The year-over-year figures were affected by the March 15 acquisition of United California Bank, which was merged into bank of the West. That made BancWest the 25th largest U.S. bank holding company, with 368 branches in seven Western states, Guam and Saipan, said Walter A. Dods Jr., chairman and CEO of BancWest.

United California was the largest Los Angeles-based bank and its acquisition more than doubled the size of Bank of the West, which now has $15 billion in California deposits, Dods said.

"Our existing businesses also continued to grow despite the economic fallout from Sept. 11 and our loan loss reserves are now at historic highs, strengthening us against future economic shocks," Dods said.

At the end of March, BancWest's assets of $33.3 billion were up 71.6 percent from a year-earlier $19.4 million, because of the United California acquisition.

That also caused loans and leases to rise 69.9 percent to $24.1 billion from $14.2 billion and deposits to rise 63.7 percent to $24.1 billion from $14.7 billion.

Don J. McGrath, president and chief operating officer of BancWest and president and CEO of Bank of the West, said the United California purchase "puts our company into Southern California on a scale to compete successfully."