Strong double-digit loan growth helped boost Territorial Savings Bank’s earnings 1.8 percent in the first quarter as the Hawaii housing market remained robust.

The holding company for the state’s fifth-largest bank said Thursday that loans jumped 19.1 percent to $1.04 billion from $872,631 in the year-earlier quarter as residential mortgage loan originations exceeded loan repayments and sales.

Territorial Bancorp Inc., which generates more than 95 percent of its loans from residential mortgages, posted net income of $3.53 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with $3.46 million, or 37 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

"The company continues to perform well," Territorial Chairman and CEO Allan Kita­gawa said.

Deposits increased 4.9 percent to $1.38 billion from $1.36 billion while assets gained 4.6 percent to $1.72 billion from $1.69 billion.

The bank’s net interest income — the spread between its loan and deposit rates — rose 3.3 percent in the first quarter to $13.6 million from $13.1 million a year ago. Its net interest margin held at 3.36 percent.

Noninterest income, which includes service charges and fees, fell 8.2 percent to $1.2 million from $1.4 million primarily due to a $110,000 decrease in what the bank generated from the sale of investment securities compared with the previous period.

Territorial’s thinly traded stock slipped 1 cent to $23.10 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The earnings were announced after the market closed.