Posted at 10:13 a.m., Monday, January 28, 2008
Bankoh net profit falls on higher expenses
Advertiser Staff
Bank of Hawaii Corp., the No. 2 bank in the state, reported fourth-quarter net income that was one-fifth lower than a year earlier's results as it took charges to cover its share of lawsuit liabilities as a member bank of Visa U.S.A. Inc. anti-trust litigation.The company reported net profit declined to $40.9 million, or 83 cents a share in the three months ended Dec. 31.
A year earlier it had recorded a profit of $50.9 million, or $1.01 cents a share.
"The company achieved its primary performance objectives for 2007 in spite of the increased expenses recognized in the fourth quarter," said Allan Landon, Bank of Hawaii chairman and chief executive officer, in a press statement.
"The Hawaii economy appears stronger than other regions of the U.S. economy and, as we begin 2008, the Bank of Hawaii is well positioned to address the challenges ahead.
The company would have earned 90 cents a share if not for the lawsuit costs. Five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg L.P. had expected Bank of Hawaii would report a profit of 94 cents a share on this basis. The bank's shares fell by 5 cents to $47.55 in late New York trading.
The company said the bottom-line results included a pre-tax expense of $5.6 million, or 7 cents a share, for its portion of the Visa anti-trust lawsuit.
The 2006 fourth-quarter results included tax accrual adjustments of $6.2 million, or 12 cents a share.
The bank's also reported:
---Net interest income fell $700,000 to $99.7 million compared with a year earlier. The net interest margin was 4.12 percent, or a 0.03 percentage points lower than the 4.15 percent in the 2006 fourth quarter.
--Non-interest income, a category that includes fees charged to customers, rose 12.6 percent to $60.3 million.
--Bank of Hawaii said credit quality remained strong. Non-accrual loans and leases, or those loans and leases that aren't being repaid at agreed-upon terms, remaining at historic lows of 0.08 percent of total loans and leases.
--While the amount of problem home-equity loans rose from the third quarter, the bank said its home equity portfolio remains strong.
--Charge-offs increased to $5.4 million from $3.1 million a year earlier. The bank said the increase reflects higher losses in consumer installment and unsecured revolving credit products.
--Total assets declined to $10.47 billion at year end from $10.57 billion a year earlier.
--Stock repurchases totaled 591,100 shares during the quarter at a total cost of $30 million during the quarter.
--Bank of Hawaii's board of directors has declared a quarterly cash divided of 44 cents a share payable on March 14 to shareholders of record at the close of business Feb. 29.
