First Hawaiian Bank posts higher fourth-quarter earnings

Advertiser Staff

Hawai'i's largest bank ended 2004 with a bang and a goodbye: Walter Dods remains as chairman but has retired from managing day-to-day operations, passing the baton to Don Horner as First Hawaiian Bank hit several milestones.

THE NUMBERS

• 4th quarter revenue: $123.2 million, up 4.7 percent
• 4th quarter net income: $36.7 million, up 11.5 percent
• Fiscal 2004 revenue: $482.7 million, down 0.3 percent
• Fiscal 2004 net income: $143.6 million, up 5.5 percent
• Total assets: $10.6 billion, up 7 percent
• Loans and leases: $5.5 billion, up 9 percent
• Total deposits: $7.7 billion, up 8 percent

2004 highlights

• Added nearly $600 million in deposits in 2004, a record year for the bank.

• Bad loans comprised 0.11 percent of total assets, the bank's lowest level in decades.

• Acquired CIC/HCM Asset Management Inc., a Honolulu investment firm managing nearly $300 million.

• Became the largest bank in Hawai'i with over $10 billion in total assets.

What the company says

"2004 was another year of significant growth — in loans, deposits, profits and in the numbers of businesses and consumers who choose to bank with us ... we've gotten bigger by acting like a small community bank."

What's next

The bank expects Hawai'i's economy to keep "hitting all cylinders" in 2005 as consumers and businesses remain confident and optimistic. Guam and Saipan are improving too.

While every year brings change, the bank said its basic strategy will remain the same — focusing on personal relationships and delivering products and services efficiently.