Posted on: Saturday, May 21, 2005
Hawai'i's surging economy gives First Hawaiian a boost
A strong Hawai'i economy has helped boost profits at First Hawaiian Bank, a unit of BancWest Corp. Retail banking and financial management profits showed double-digit gains, while earnings from consumer finance and commercial banking were under pressure.
FIRST QUARTER VS. YR AGO
Net income: $38.5 million, up 9 percent
Revenue: $124.9 million, up 8 percent
Net interest income: $89 million, up 12 percent
Noninterest income: $35.9 million, down 0.5 percent
Total assets: $10.8 billion, up 9.2 percent
Loans and leases: $5.5 billion, up 9.3 percent
Deposits: $8.1 billion, up 13.7 percent
• Retail banking profits rose by 45 percent year over year, driven in part by higher net interest income i generally, the interest earned minus interest paid. • Profits from the consumer finance segment fell 9.7 percent due to smaller gains on sale of mortgages, while costs rose. • Commercial banking profits fell 27 percent on lower net interest income. • Financial management profits rose 50 percent in part due to higher noninterest income i such as fees and charges.
"As a result of a continued robust economy and our expanding relationships with our customers, we achieved strong earnings and asset growth and an increased market share."
Don Horner
• The bank is increasing its commercial credit-card business, offering sophisticated credit cards to its business customers. • The bank is launching a co-branded debit card on Guam, a Web Cash Manager product for business clients and new real-estate loan products.
• Because of the improved economy, the bank seeks to increase its deposit and loan assets by expanding its market share.
REASONS
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
President and chief executive officer
WHAT'S NEXT
