Bank of Hawaii Corp. was the nation’s top performing bank last year, according a study by an influential trade magazine.

The ABA Banking Journal, the monthly magazine for the American Bankers Association, rated Bank of Hawaii No. 1 when it comes to return on average total equity. The bank’s return was 24.54 percent, topping the next best performer Little Rock, Ark.-based Bank of the Ozarks by a large margin.
“Bank of Hawaii has consistently been a strong performer and has been among the top 5 institutions since 2006,” the study said.
“This is the first time that the bank has taken the top spot in our rankings.”
Bank of Hawaii CEO Al Landon said the ranking is something the bank and its employees can be very proud of, coming at a time when the nation’s financial industry is facing tremendous upheaval. Bank of Hawaii was rated number 2 in the magazine’s study for 2007.
“We maintained our discipline, avoided subprime markets, and stuck to our job of taking care of customers in a difficult economic environment,” Landon said.
The study reviewed the finances of 145 publicly traded financial institutions, each with assets of $3 billion or more. The state’s largest bank, First Hawaiian Bank, was not included in the study since it is a unit of BNP Paribas.