‘Solid quarter’ raises Bank of Hawaii profit

A robust economy continued to boost Bank of Hawaii’s double-digit loan growth in the second quarter, with earnings per share exceeding analysts’ expectations.

The state’s second-largest financial institution reported Monday a modest 0.9 percent increase in net income to $44.7 million, or $1.05 per share, beating Wall Street analysts’ projections by 2 cents. That compares with $44.2 million in the year-earlier quarter, or $1.03 per share.

Loans grew 12.7 percent to $9.4 billion from $8.3 billion a year ago, while deposits rose 8.4 percent to $14.8 billion from $13.6 billion. Assets increased 7.1 percent to $16.98 billion, up from $15.9 billion. The bank’s board of directors raised its quarterly cash dividend to 52 cents per share from 50 cents, the third increase in the past 18 months.

“The key takeaway from our standpoint is it was another solid quarter for Bank of Hawaii,” Peter Ho, Bank of Hawaii’s president and CEO, said in a phone interview. “The loan and deposit growth — those are really our primary drivers for operating profit — performed quite nicely.”

The company’s revenue includes net interest income, the difference between income from assets and expenses for liabilities; and noninterest income, derived mainly from service charges and fees. Net interest income rose 8.4 percent to $112.3 million compared with $103.6 million a year ago, while noninterest income fell 2.8 percent to $45.2 million from $46.5 million. Expenses inched up 2.5 percent to $88.2 million from $86.1 million.

“They’ve done a superb job in controlling their operating costs. Given the backdrop of an improving interest rate environment and still-strong economy, I would expect the company to continue to perform well,” said Aaron Deer, an equity analyst for San Francisco investment bank Sandler O’Neill. “The fundamental trends at the bank continue to be quite good. Loan growth came in at a double-digit pace, and it was a good mix of both commercial and consumer growth. Their net interest margin — a measure of what they earn on their assets versus what they pay on their liabilities — experienced some modest widening, which helped improve overall profitability.”

The bank’s positive financial outlook with the Federal Reserve starting to increase interest rates led Deer to raise his estimates for Bankoh’s earnings per share to $4.42 for this year and to $5.18 — an 8-cent increase — for 2018.

Ho expects a strong economy to continue at least through the end of the year.

“That robustness of the Hawaiian economy really, in our minds, is what’s driving the results for us,” he said. “It would be difficult for the economy to do better because 2.7 percent unemployment already is a historically low rate. In terms of being able to maintain these levels, we think the economy has some legs for a while.”

Bank of Hawaii is investing $140 million to modernize its branches and headquarters and an undisclosed amount to improve technology in response to customers changing preferences to banking online and on mobile devices, Ho said.

More than a year ago the bank introduced easy-deposit ATMs that allow customers to deposit cash or checks in one bundle, eliminating the need for an envelope or deposit slip. The company also recently debuted cardless cash, allowing consumers to withdraw money through a mobile device without having to use an ATM or debit card. Bankoh is looking to launch a program soon that would allow people to text or email each other money.

“We are seeing a very fundamental shift on how people do everyday banking transactions,” Ho said. “There are much more banking activities that happen on people’s smartphones nowadays than in years past. As you imagine, that’s the way people increasingly want to bank with us. We’re in the process of rebuilding our branches to support this change in how consumers use their banks, and we’re in the process of improving the digital capabilities for our customers. It’s exciting to me. It’s kind of the fun part of banking.”