First Hawaiian Bank earned a record profit during the January-March period and boosted its loans to an all-time high as it returned once again to fully independent status prior to the end of the first quarter.
French banking giant BNP Paribas, which became a 100% owner of the bank in 2001, sold off its remaining 18.4% stake in the company Feb. 1 to complete an exiting process that had begun in August 2016 when it began raising needed capital through an initial public offering.
“They were always very supportive for us in terms of doing business and serving the community,” First Hawaiian Chairman and CEO Bob Harrison said Thursday of BNP. “The significant change (without BNP in control) is decision making from the standpoint of investments, strategic thinking, that kind of thing.”
First Hawaiian Inc., the holding company for the state’s largest bank, said net income rose 2.9% to $69.9 million, or
52 cents a share, in the first quarter to match analysts’ consensus estimate. In the year-earlier quarter, First Hawaiian had net income of $68 million, or
49 cents a share.
The bank’s loans increased 5.9% to $13.2 billion from $12.5 billion in the year-earlier quarter due to growth in commercial real estate and residential mortgage loans.
“Our pipeline looks good, and we continue to expect full-year loan growth to be in the mid-single-digit range,” First Hawaiian President Eric Yeaman said.
Harrison said it was “a good quarter” for the bank.
“The economy is still doing well here in Hawaii, and we’re out there supporting that growth,” he said. “We saw some movement in some of the loan categories, and loan growth was solid at just under 1% for the quarter, right at mid-single digits for the year. Credit quality was outstanding. It’s hard to ask for more than that.”
Net interest income, the difference between what the bank pays out in deposits and takes in from loans, gained 3.9% to $145.1 million while the bank’s net interest margin rose 10 basis points to 3.23% from 3.13%. Noninterest income, which includes service charges and fees, declined 3.3% to $47.1 million.
Deposits fell 3.3% to
$16.8 billion while assets increased 1% to $20.4 billion.
First Hawaiian maintained its dividend at 26 cents a share after having raised the quarterly payout by 2 cents in the previous quarter. The dividend, which represents a 3.88% yield, will be payable June 7 to stockholders of record at the close of business May 28.
Shares of the bank fell
22 cents to $26.82 before the results were announced. The stock is up 19.2% this year.
