The parent of Central Pacific Bank said today it had a profit for the second straight quarter and that its turnaround is beginning to gain momentum.

The state’s fourth-largest bank in terms of assets swung to a profit of $8.2 million in the second quarter from a year-earlier loss of $16.1 million. Central Pacific Financial Corp., which continues to see improvement in its credit portfolio, benefited from the release of $8.8 million from a reserve it had set aside for future loan losses. Of that amount, $6.4 million was returned to the bank’s income after the remainder was applied to other credit costs.

In the first quarter of this year, Central Pacific earned $4.6 million after seven straight losing quarters.

“We feel good, but we’re not relaxed,” Central Pacific President and CEO John Dean said. “We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but I think putting together two quarters of profitable earnings — and increased earnings — over the prior quarter are all good trends.