BancWest profits up 18 percent
Advertiser Staff and News Services
BancWest Corp., parent company of First Hawaiian Bank, said earnings last year rose nearly 18 percent, reflecting higher income from fees and service charges.
Hawai'i's biggest financial services company in terms of total assets, BancWest said net income rose to $254.8 million, up 17.8 percent from $216.4 million the previous year.
For the fourth quarter, net income rose 13 percent to $63.5 million, up from $56.2 million.
Cash earnings for the quarter were $72.7 million, up 13 percent from the fourth quarter of 2000. For the full year, cash earnings were $291.6 million, up 17 percent from 2000.
"Considering the economic fallout from September 11th, our sustained progress is gratifying," Walter A. Dods Jr., BancWest chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.
"Bank of the West continues to grow at a strong double-digit percentage in Western states and First Hawaiian Bank also increased earnings despite the economic hit the Islands have taken since September."
Late last year, BNP Paribas acquired the 55 percent of BancWest stock it did not already own. The $2.5 billion transaction, at $35 a share, made BancWest a wholly owned subsidiary of the French bank.
Nonperforming assets were $119.4 million, or 0.78 percent of loans, compared to 0.86 percent at the end of 2000.
Net charge-offs for the year grew to an annualized rate of 0.55 percent of average total loans and leases, compared with 0.37 percent a year ago.
BancWest's total assets increased to $21.6 billion, up 17.2 percent from a year ago. Loans totaled $15.2 billion, up 8.9 percent; deposits increased to $15.3 billion, up 8.5 percent.
Overall revenues for the fourth quarter were up 16.6 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, and revenues for the full year rose 10.9 percent from 2000, not including the impact of nonrecurring items.
Net interest income grew 13.6 percent over the fourth quarter of 2000, on a 9 percent growth in average loans and leases, primarily in the Western states, as well as the effects of interest rate reductions.
During the quarter, the provision for credit losses was $28.8 million, up from $16.4 million a year earlier. For the full year, the provision for credit losses was $103.1 million, up from $60.4 million.
Dods said BancWest increased its loan loss provisions both before and after Sept. 11 because of changing national and global conditions increasing the probability of potential losses, although none specifically identified may be inherent in the company's loan portfolio.
As a result of the credit loss provisions exceeding net charge-offs for the year by $22.2 million, the allowance for credit losses represented 1.28 percent of total loans and leases at the end of the year, compared to 1.23 percent a year ago.
The bank said the $2.4 billion acquisition of United California Bank — the largest Los Angeles-based bank with assets of $11 billion and 117 branches — is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, subject to regulatory approvals.
United California will be merged into Bank of the West by the end of the third quarter, more than doubling its California presence. The consolidated company will operate under the Bank of the West name.
After the acquisition, BancWest will have $34 billion in assets and serve 1.5 million customers from more than 350 branches in California and six other Western states, Guam and Saipan. Bank of the West will have $15 billion in deposits within California, ranking it fourth in bank deposit market share in the state.
