First Hawaiian Inc., parent company of Hawaii’s largest bank, saw a slight bump in net income in the first quarter of 2022, beating Wall Street expectations.

The banking company reported Friday first-quarter earnings of $57.72 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with $56.9 million, or 44 cents a share, in the same period last year.

The average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 42 cents a share.

“I’m pleased to report that we started 2022 with a strong quarter,” said Bob Harrison, First Hawaiian’s chairman, president and CEO, in the quarterly report. “We had good earnings and continued consumer and commercial deposit growth, and credit quality remained excellent.”

In a conference call with analysts and investors after the report was released, Harrison expressed optimism that Hawaii’s economy is improving with the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and more tourists returning to the islands.

Total deposits of $22.3 billion in the first quarter in 2022 were up more than 10% from $20.1 billion for the same period last year, the company said.

Total loans and leases fell about 3% to $12.9 billion in the latest quarter versus $13.3 billion in first quarter of 2021.

Net interest income, which is the difference between what the bank generates in loans and pays out in deposits, rose 3.6% to $133.9 million from $129.16 million a year earlier, the quarterly report said.

First Hawaiian’s board left the company’s stock dividend unchanged at 26 cents a share, payable June 3 to stockholders of record at the close of business May 23.

The stock closed Friday at $26.34 a share, down $1.15, or 4%, as the overall stock market suffered a major selloff.