Bank of Hawaii Corp. reported relatively stable earnings in the third quarter during a tumultuous time for the U.S. banking industry.

The bank said yesterday its net income for the three months ending Sept. 30 was $47.4 million, down 0.8 percent compared with a strong third-quarter 2007 when earnings were $47.8 million.

Per-share income, however, was up 3.1 percent due in large part to stock repurchases by the company. On a per-share basis, the company netted 99 cents, which is up from third-quarter 2007's 96 cents.

The results were in line with Wall Street's expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had been forecasting earnings of 99 cents per share for the third quarter.

"Bank of Hawaii had another good financial performance during the third quarter of 2008 despite a challenging environment for banks," said Allan Landon, Bank of Hawaii CEO.

"We are preparing for more challenging operating conditions as the Hawai'i economy slows and federal government programs begin to impact our market."

Shares of Bank of Hawaii slipped $3.04 yesterday to close at $43.15 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company said net interest income was $103.6 million during the third quarter, up from the year-earlier's $98.6 million. Noninterest income dipped to $57 million from $61.2 million a year ago.

Total assets fell to $10.34 billion from the year-earlier's $10.55 billion as deposits slipped to $7.66 billion from third quarter 2007's $7.88 billion.

Loans and leases totaled $6.54 billion during the latest quarter, which was down from the year-earlier's $6.59 billion.

The company's quarterly results included an $8.9 million credit as a result of a tax settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over how it recorded a certain type of lease known as "sale in/lease out" leases.

The company also said it plans to increase its quarterly dividend to 45 cents per share from 44 cents per share. The new dividend is payable on Dec. 12 to shareholders of record on Nov. 28.