Central Pacific Bank has been refocusing its loans on the Hawaii market after an ill-fated mainland expansion, and the renewed effort is paying off.
The holding company for the state’s fourth-largest bank reported a double-digit increase in loans and also raised its dividend.
Second-quarter net
$12.1 million
Year-earlier net
$12.3 million
Despite those improvements, the bank’s net income was down 1.6 percent in the second quarter because of a large credit-to-loan-loss provision that the bank took as income in the year-earlier period.
Central Pacific Financial Corp. reported earnings of $12.1 million, or 39 cents a share, to beat analysts’ consensus estimate of 35 cents. That compares with net income of $12.3 million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Loan growth jumped 13.2 percent.
“It was another solid quarter performance for us,” Central Pacific President and CEO Catherine Ngo said Wednesday in a telephone interview ahead of today’s official earnings release. “We saw an increase in net income, strong loan growth and continued improvement in credit quality.”
Central Pacific, which has 35 branches statewide, has now posted 22 straight profitable quarters following $703.1 million in losses from 2008 to 2010.
The bank increased its quarterly dividend to 16 cents a share, from 14 cents, that will be payable on Sept. 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 31. That would equate to an annualized yield of 2.6 percent based on Wednesday’s closing price of $24.52. The stock is up 11.4 percent this year.
In addition, Central Pacific repurchased 259,200 shares of common stock worth $5.8 million at an average cost of $22.36 during the quarter.
“The company has a capital strategy to reward its shareholders through quarterly cash dividends and an ongoing share repurchase program,” Chief Financial Officer David Morimoto said. “We’ll continue to look to increase the dividend as earnings increase. We’re targeting a payout ratio that’s comparable to our peer group.”
Central Pacific also announced that Chief Banking Officer Lance Mizumoto, who held the title of co-president, will be appointed to the newly created positions of vice chairman and chief operating officer, effective Sept. 1. His compensation will not change. The bank will not fill the chief banking officer position.
Central Pacific’s earnings fell last quarter after the bank returned to its income statement $1.4 million it had set aside for potential loan losses compared with $7.3 million it returned to income in the second quarter of 2015.
Central Pacific, which has reduced its delinquent loans over the past six years after being burned by the California real estate meltdown, had $496 million in nonperforming assets — delinquent loans not accruing interest and foreclosed real estate — in March 2010. The bank had just $14.9 million in NPAs at the end of the second quarter. That was down 53.6 percent from $32.1 million in the year-earlier period.
Central Pacific’s loans increased to $3.4 billion from $3 billion in the year-ago quarter. The bank’s mainland loan exposure was just 13.3 percent, or $452 million, with no nonperforming assets as of the end of the second quarter. Its Hawaii loan exposure was 86.7 percent, or just under $3 billion, with $14.9 million in nonperforming assets.
“We were particularly pleased with the growth we saw in our commercial and residential mortgage portfolio and also our consumer portfolio,” Ngo said. “We’ve seen nice growth in our residential portfolio, including in home equity line of credit. We’re continuing to see opportunities across all of the sectors.”
Central Pacific also saw its deposits increase 5.3 percent to $4.4 billion from $4.2 billion while its assets rose 6.3 percent to $5.3 billion from $5 billion.
The bank relocated its Kailua branch last month to a new two-level, 3,621-square-foot site a block away at 6 Hoolai St. that formerly was occupied by an Arby’s restaurant.
Central Pacific’s net interest income, the difference between the interest Central Pacific pays on deposits and the interest it receives on loans, rose 6.2 percent to $39.6 million from $37.3 million while its net interest margin slipped to 3.29 percent from 3.32 percent. Noninterest income, which includes service charges and fees, jumped 44.4 percent to $11.7 million from $8.1 million primarily due to investment securities losses of $1.9 million recorded in the year-ago quarter, and $771,000 in higher income from bank-owned life insurance than the year-earlier quarter.
“We continue to benefit from a strong economy and the continued focus by our employees on strengthening relationships with our existing customers and establishing new relationships,” Mizumoto said.