BancWest revises
’02 income up 1 percent

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Star-Bulletin staff

First Hawaiian Bank parent BancWest Corp. said today it has revised its 2002 net income upward by $3.7 million, or about 1 percent, because of a technical accounting change involving the internal financing of last year's acquisition of United California Bank.

The discrepancy involved the appropriate accounting presentation for $800 million in intercompany financing between BancWest and its parent, BNP Paribas SA, in connection with the UCB acquisition. On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission notified BancWest that the transaction should be accounted for as debt rather than as minority interest in its subsidiary, Bank of the West. Due to the change, BancWest has delayed the filing of its annual financial report until it makes the necessary changes.

BancWest said it has now revised its net income in the fourth quarter to $102.3 million, up 61.2 percent, from the same quarter in 2001 due largely to the UCB acquisition. BancWest previously reported net income of $98.6 million for the fourth quarter.

For the year, BancWest's earnings are now $361.3 million, up 41.8 percent, from a year ago. Originally, BancWest had reported net income of $357.6 million, up 40.4 percent from the prior year.

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BancWest Corp.