Central Pacific rescuer, ex-CEO retiring from board

Turnaround specialist John Dean, who spearheaded the recapitalization of Central Pacific Bank following the recession and returned the company to profitability, plans to retire from the parent company’s board in the spring.

Dean, 72, a current director and former chairman and CEO of the state’s fourth-largest bank, has decided not to stand for board reelection at Central Pacific Financial Corp.’s April annual shareholders meeting, the company announced Monday. He will retain the title of chairman emeritus and will continue to support the bank’s interests in customer outreach, leadership development and community engagement.

“John Dean is truly a remarkable leader and individual, always leading by example, not only in business and finance, but also in our community,” Central Pacific Chairman and CEO Paul Yonamine said. “There is no other like John, and while we will miss his contributions, we wish him the best in his well-deserved retirement.”

Dean joined the bank as executive chairman in March 2010 in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 recession when the bank was financially ailing, primarily from a meltdown in the California real estate market. Before he arrived the bank received a $135 million bailout package from the U.S. Treasury in January 2009 as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which was passed by Congress in October 2008.

In 2008, when the real estate market was tanking, Central Pacific lost $138.4 million. In 2009 it lost $313.7 million, and in 2010 it lost $251 million. Dean returned the bank to profitability in the first quarter of 2011, and Central Pacific finished the year with $36.6 million in earnings.

Dean, who including Central Pacific has been credited with the turnaround of four major banks, assembled a new management team when he took over at the Honolulu bank and set about arranging for the recapitalization of the company with $325 million in private equity funds. He was instrumental in the divestiture of the bank’s troubled loan mortgages and overall improvement in asset quality to high performance standards.

Since Dean joined the company and through Sept. 30 of this year, the company’s total assets increased to $6 billion from $4.4 billion, and nonperforming assets declined to $1.4 million from $493.8 million. Nonperforming assets are essentially delinquent loans not accruing interest and foreclosed real estate.

“I have worked with John for almost the past 30 years and can truly say that he is in a league of his own,” Central Pacific President Catherine Ngo said. “We are eternally indebted to him for the turnaround and success of our company, and for the strong core values he instilled into our corporate culture.”

Buoyed by its stable profitability and a strong capital position, Central Pacific was able to repurchase approximately 32.5% of its common shares outstanding since the first quarter of 2014.