Central Pacific Financial Corp. returned to profitability in the third quarter. The parent of Central Pacific Bank said it earned $3 million, or 11 cents per share, during the three months ending Sept. 30, 2008.

The parent of Central Pacific Bank said it earned $3 million, or 11 cents per share, during the three months ending Sept. 30, 2008. That partially offset a loss of $146.3 million, or $5.10 per share, during the second quarter of 2008.

The news boosted Central Pacific stock, which rose 98 cents, or 6.7 percent, to $15.60 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.

"Reinforced by our third-quarter profit, the fundamentals of our bank have strengthened and we are confident that we will be able to continue to navigate through the challenging economic conditions facing all financial institutions," said Ronald Migita, Central Pacific's chairman and CEO.

"We continue to focus on investing in our core Hawai'i franchise and strengthening our asset quality."

The results were down from third quarter 2007 when the company earned $9.1 million, or 30 cents per share, but they did exceed Wall Street's expectations.

Analysts polled by SNL Financial had forecast earnings of 9 cents per share for the latest quarter.

The quarterly net was also on the high end of estimates provided by the company. Last month, Central Pacific told investors that it expected to earn between $2.2 million, or 8 cents per share, and $3.2 million, or 11 cents per share for the third quarter.

The latest financial report caps a tumultuous year in which many of Central Pacific's California commercial borrowers got hammered by the subprime lending crisis, prompting the local company to sell off a large chunk of its Mainland loan portfolio at a loss.

The company recorded a noncash goodwill impairment charge of $94.8 million during the second quarter.

Central Pacific said it did not record a charge during the latest quarter.

Total assets and deposits were down slightly while the company's loans and leases were virtually flat.

The bank holding company's total assets slipped by 2.5 percent from $5.65 billion to the year-earlier's $5.50 billion, while deposits declined by 4.2 percent to $3.78 billion from $3.92 billion.

Net loans and leases were $3.98 billion, compared to $4 billion in third quarter 2007.