Strong loan growth benefits Bankoh

Bank of Hawaii Corp. generated double-digit loan growth for the eighth straight quarter and topped $16 billion in assets for the first time as it continued benefiting from the state’s robust economy.

The state’s second-largest bank said Monday that net income in the third quarter soared 27 percent to $43.5 million, or $1.02 a share, to beat analysts’ estimates by 3 cents. A year earlier Bankoh earned $34.3 million, or 79 cents a share, in a quarter that included a $6.5 million after-tax charge that the company took to discontinue its aircraft leasing operations.

“It was a very solid strong quarter where we saw excellent growth in loans across all categories,” said Peter Ho, chairman, president and CEO of Bank of Hawaii. “Non-interest income was strong as well and expenses were well managed.”

Loans increased 13 percent to $8.69 billion from $7.69 billion and have now risen by double digits in each period since the fourth quarter of 2014. Last quarter, commercial loans increased 12 percent to $3.49 billion while consumer loans rose 14 percent to $5.20 billion.

”It was a solid quarter all around,” said analyst Aaron Deer of San Francisco-based Sandler O’Neill + Partners. “Particularly impressive was the loan growth in the quarter … which was much better than we anticipated.”

Deer said most of the community banks he follows have been showing slower loan growth this quarter.

”Bank of Hawaii is a bit of a standout in that it actually has loan growth that accelerated in the quarter,” he said.

Ho said the loan growth is multifaceted.

“There’s really two things happening now,” Ho said. “The commercial book continued to perform very well. That’s being driven by a very strong construction environment, which is being driven by a very strong economy in general. And then the consumer side of our lending is performing well as a result of what’s happening in the economy. The unemployment rate is very low right now, and housing values have climbed substantially. That’s giving people opportunities to borrow against home-equity lines. Auto sales continued to do well, which is helping our auto lending book.”

The bank’s noninterest income, which includes service charges and fees, jumped 11 percent to $48.1 million. Mortgage banking income, which includes fees for loan originations and fees that the bank generates by selling mortgages to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, nearly doubled to $6.4 million from $3.3 million in the year-earlier period.

Bankoh’s net interest income, the difference between the interest Bankoh pays on deposits and the interest it receives on loans, rose 6 percent to $103.9 million from $97.9 million.

In other areas, deposits rose 7 percent to $13.81 billion while assets rose 6 percent to $16 billion. Nonperforming assets, which are delinquent loans not accruing interest and foreclosed real estate, declined 37 percent to $18.7 million.

The bank also set aside $2.5 million in the quarter for potential loan losses due to the continued strong growth of loans and leases. There was no provision in the year-earlier quarter.

Bankoh’s stock closed up 40 cents to $74.42. The earnings were announced before the market opened.