Despite a sluggish local economy, First Hawaiian Bank enjoyed its best-ever second quarter.

The state's largest financial institution said it earned $55.1 million during the three months ending June 30, a 6.2 percent increase from the previous year's $51.9 million.

For the first six months this year, First Hawaiian said it netted $111.3 million, a 7.7 percent gain from the first half of 2007's $103.3 million.

"Despite the slowing local and national economies, the bank continued to perform well during the first half of 2008," said Don Horner, First Hawaiian's chief executive officer.

"Revenue growth, margin, and asset quality all remained strong."

Horner said productivity improvements, the bank's "consistent credit policies," and initiatives to enhance relationships with existing bank customers positioned First Hawaiian for continued growth.

Hawai'i's banks have been relatively unscathed by the subprime lending crisis on the Mainland and that's reflected in First Hawaiian's balance sheets.

During the first half this year, the bank's assets grew 4 percent to $13 billion while loans and leases jumped 18.3 percent to $7.4 billion.

Deposits, meanwhile, were flat at $9.1 billion.

Earlier this week, Standard & Poor's affirmed its credit rating for First Hawaiian, citing its "overall consistent earnings, diversified loan portfolio, and strong asset quality."

First Hawaiian is a unit of BancWest Corp., a bank holding company that is owned by Paris-based BNP Paribas.