Utilites, bank boost HEI’s earnings 19.1 percent

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc.’s earnings jumped 19.1 percent in the second quarter as the holding company’s utilities and its bank subsidiary posted strong results.

The parent of Hawaiian Electric Co., Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co. on the Big Island, as well as American Savings Bank, said Friday that net income rose to $46.1 million, or 42 cents a share, from $38.7 million, or 36 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue rose 8.4 percent to $685.3 million from $632.3 million.

HEI reported that its utilities’ net income increased 21.5 percent to $31.2 million from $25.6 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Utility revenue rose 9.2 percent to $608.1 million from $556.9 million.

“Our utilities made major strides on their strategies in the quarter, paving the way for more renewable and more choices for customers while enhancing system resilience and reliability,” HEI President and CEO Connie Lau said on the company’s earnings conference call. “Regulatory progress continued at a rapid pace with our commission issuing several key decisions that helped keep the momentum toward achieving our state’s renewable goals.”

During the quarter, HEI received $7 million in rate relief from state Public Utilities Commission decisions involving HECO and HELCO. An interim decision by the PUC on MECO is expected this month.

In addition, HEI brought online in June its Schofield Generating Station.

“The flexible, efficient facility runs on biofuels and conventional fuels, and improves Oahu’s grid resilience and reliability as we add more solar and wind resources,” Lau said.

American Savings, the state’s third-largest bank, reported Monday that its earnings jumped 22.9 percent to $20.6 million from $16.7 million in the year-earlier period in recording its second consecutive quarter of record net income. The increase was fueled by a 6.5 percent gain in net interest income — the difference between what it pays customers for deposits and the interest customers pay for loans — and savings from the new federal corporate tax law that reduced the bank’s tax expense by $2 million from the year-earlier period.

HEI’s stock slipped 4 cents to $35.20 after the earnings were released.