Posted on: Friday, April 22, 2005

BUSINESS BRIEFS
Income up 21% at BancWest

Advertiser Staff

BancWest Corp., the parent of First Hawaiian Bank and Bank of the West, reported a first-quarter net income of $136.6 million, up nearly 21 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

Results were driven by internal growth and reflected the first full quarter following its acquisition of Community First Bankshares and USDB Bancorp. Net interest income — interest earned from loans and investments minus what the bank pays on deposits and other liabilities — rose 23 percent to $394.4 million. Noninterest income — other sources of income for the bank such as fees and service charges — went up by 20 percent to $122.8 million year-over-year. Total assets came to $51.4 billion as of March 31, up 32 percent from a year ago.

Jewelry firm to open new store

When Hilo Hattie opens a store in San Diego's historic downtown Gaslamp Quarter next month, Maui Divers Jewelry will be there.

The jewelry manufacturer and retailer will occupy 500 square feet in Hilo Hattie's 5,000-square-foot store slated to open May 25. The store-within-a-store concession is the 12th under a partnership that began in 2002 between the two Hawai'i companies.

Maui Divers, which also operates Island Pearls and Pick-A-Pearl shops, has 48 stores in Hawai'i and on the Mainland. The San Diego store will be the company's fifth opened in two months.

A&B Properties in joint venture

A&B Properties, Inc., the real estate subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, Inc., is joining with Intertex Properties on a shopping center project in Valencia, Calif.

The joint venture, Centre Pointe Marketplace LLC, will develop the Centre Pointe Marketplace, a 101,700-square-foot shopping center on a 10.2-acre parcel within the 240-acre Centre Pointe Business Park.

The site, adjacent to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores, will have three main buildings and two pad sites. Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2005 and take 12 months to complete. Total cost of the project is estimated at $25 million.