First Hawaiian Bank officials report a stellar fourth quarter

First Hawaiian Bank, which appears headed for an initial public offering, ended what could be its last full year as a subsidiary of BNP Paribas by achieving its second-highest quarterly net income ever and the most profitable year in its 157-year history.

The state’s largest bank also achieved record levels of assets, loans and deposits.

First Hawaiian reported Tuesday that net income for the quarter rose 3.6 percent to $63.6 million and increased 4.3 percent for the year to $236.1 million. Its most profitable quarter ever was in the January-March period of 2009, when it made $74.5 million. Its previous best year also was 2009, when it made $230.5 million.

Assets increased last quarter by 6.7 percent to $19.3 billion, loans rose 6.9 percent to $10.7 billion and deposits gained 9.1 percent to $16.1 billion.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of French banking giant BNP Paribas, First Hawaiian isn’t required to release its earnings, but has been doing so on a voluntary basis. However, given the uncertainty of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requirements and BNP’s plans for the bank, First Hawaiian said it would not provide any comments regarding its financial results.

Earlier this month First Hawaiian Chairman and CEO Bob Harrison said a record number of people in the workforce is boosting the state economy. During the fourth quarter, First Hawaiian processed $820.6 million in credit and debit card transactions from its Hawaii merchants — the second-highest total since the bank began reporting credit card sales in 2010.

“Our feeling is that this is really a show of strength based on the employment numbers,” Harrison said at the time. “The unemployment rate of 3.2 percent is the lowest since (January) 2008. The strength of our economy is based on the consumer. More people are working, and that’s turning into more consumer spending.”

The quality of First Hawaiian’s loan portfolio continued to improve last quarter. Its nonperforming assets, or loans considered past due and in danger of being written off, as a percentage of total assets declined to 0.09 percent from 0.16 percent a year ago.

In December BNP announced that it was contemplating a sale of First Hawaiian as a way to generate more capital. Among the options being considered was an initial public offering.

Earlier this month three sources told Reuters that BNP had chosen Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to help prepare First Hawaiian for an IPO, with one source saying the estimated value could be between $4 billion and $5 billion.

A North America banking analyst, however, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser earlier this month that the estimated value sounded “a little rich” and may have been estimated before the stock market took its downturn this year.

First Hawaiian, which was founded in 1858, has 57 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan.