Posted at 12:01 p.m., Monday, October 27, 2003
Bankoh sees 21.5% increase in net income
By David Butts
Advertiser Staff Writer
The state’s largest bank, based on assets, reported net income of $36.7 million, or 61 cents per share, for the three months to Sept. 30, up 21.5 percent from $30.2 million, or 43 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Investors reacted positively, pushing the Bank of Hawaii’s share price up $1.65 to 36.79, a 52-week high.
The bank’s share price has been steadily gaining since Michael O’Neill became chairman and CEO in November 2000 (when it stood at $11) and began a program of improving the bank’s asset quality, selling off most operations outside the state and replacing an aging technology system.
O’Neill said the bank has accomplished those goals and future growth will be based on better servicing customers and fine tuning of expenses.
"We are putting away the power tools and taking out the scalpel," O’Neill said today on a conference call with analysts.
O’Neill sounded bullish on the state’s economic outlook.
"The Hawaii economy is strengthening," he said. "This gives us the confidence to increase our quarterly dividend." The bank said it now expects to exceed its previous estimate of $131 million in earnings for all of 2003.
