First Hawaiian 1Q profit rises

The state's largest bank boosted net income 5.7 percent in the first quarter

First Hawaiian Bank, the state's largest bank in terms of assets, boosted net income 5.7 percent in the first quarter as assets, loans and deposits all increased from the previous year.

The bank, Hawaii's oldest, said yesterday that earnings rose to $51.4 million from $48.7 million. Revenue gained 10.6 percent to $155.1 million from $140.2 million.

"Continued asset growth and a stable interest margin contributed to our solid performance," said Don Horner, First Hawaiian's president and chief executive officer.

Net interest income, the difference of what the bank pays depositors and what it brings in from loans, rose 12.9 percent to $117.1 million from $103.7 million. Net interest margin increased to 4.71 percent from 4.46 percent in the year-earlier quarter and from 4.51 percent as of Dec. 31, 2006.

Noninterest income, which includes revenue from service charges and fees, rose 4.3 percent to $38 million from $36.4 million.

Assets grew 4.7 percent to $12.3 billion from $11.7 billion, leaving First Hawaiian ahead of rival Bank of Hawaii Corp., which had $10.49 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter.

Loans and leases increased 5.3 percent to $6.3 billion from $5.9 billion, and deposits rose 3.3 percent to $8.9 billion from $8.6 billion.

First Hawaiian, founded in 1858, has 57 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan. It is a sister bank of San Francisco-based Bank of the West and a subsidiary of the Honolulu-based holding company, BancWest Corp. Banc-West, which had $68.7 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, is owned by French banking giant BNP Paribas SA.

Bank of the West reported yesterday that its net income fell about 9 percent to $148 million from $135 million a year ago.

"The decline relative to first-quarter 2006 resulted from ongoing narrowing in our net interest margin and our return to a more normal level of provisioning for credit losses," Bank of the West Chairman and CEO Don McGrath said.

Bank of the West, the third-largest commercial bank headquartered in the West, has more than 700 branches and commercial banking offices in 19 states.