OREANDA-NEWS. First Hawaiian, Inc. (NASDAQ:FHB), (the "Company") today reported financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2016.

Highlights

Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 was $56.6 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, and core net income1 was $56.0 million, or $0.40 per diluted share

Net income for the full year 2016 was $230.2 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, and core net income1 was $217.1 million, or $1.56 per diluted share

Board of Directors increased quarterly dividend by 10% to $0.22 per share

"2016 was a milestone year for First Hawaiian, and we capped off the year with a solid fourth quarter in which we grew total loans and leases to a record $11.5 billion," said Bob Harrison, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased with our performance in 2016, as we maintained our strategic and disciplined approach to growing loans and deposits, while maintaining excellent credit quality and sustaining superior financial performance."

On January 23, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share, an increase of $0.02 per share from the dividend paid in December 2016. The dividend will be payable on March 10, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 27, 2017.

Earnings Highlights

Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 was $56.6 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, compared to $53.2 million, or $0.38 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, and $50.2 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Core net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 was $56.0 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, compared to $55.2 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, and $49.8 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Net income for the full year 2016 was $230.2 million, or $1.65 per diluted share, compared to $213.8 million, or $1.53 per diluted share, for the full year 2015. Core net income for the full year 2016 was $217.1 million, or $1.56 per diluted share, compared to $196.3 million, or $1.41 per diluted share for the full year 2015.

Net interest income for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 was $131.3 million, an increase of $8.6 million compared to $122.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2016, and an increase of $15.0 million compared to $116.2 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. The increases in net interest income compared to the third quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2015 were due to higher average balances of loans and investment securities and higher yields on investment securities, partially offset by higher average deposit balances. Net interest income for the full year 2016 was $491.7 million compared to $461.3 million for 2015. The increase in net interest income was primarily attributable to higher average balances of loans and higher yields on investment securities, partially offset by lower yields on loans, lower average balances of investment securities and higher average deposit balances.

Net interest margin was 2.99%, 2.87% and 2.71%, respectively, for the quarters ended December 31, 2016, September 30, 2016, and December 31, 2015. The 12 basis point increase compared to the third quarter of 2016 was due to higher investment portfolio yields, lower premium amortization, and higher loan prepayments, slightly offset by lower loan yields. The 28 basis point increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 was due to overall higher earning asset yields. The net interest margin for the full year of 2016 was 2.88%, compared to 2.78% for 2015. The 10 basis point increase in net interest margin was primarily due to higher yields on investments and interest-bearing deposits in other banks, partially offset by lower yields on loans.

Results for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 included a provision for credit losses of $3.9 million compared to $2.1 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2016 and $2.5 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2015. The provision for credit losses for the full year of 2016 was $8.6 million, compared to $9.9 million in 2015.

Noninterest income was $49.0 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2016, an increase of $0.3 million compared to noninterest income of $48.7 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2016 and an increase of $1.8 million compared to noninterest income of $47.2 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2015. The fourth quarter of 2016 included $1.5 million of net gains on the sales of securities and $3.0 million of swap fee income. The third quarter of 2016 included gains of $3.5 million from death benefits and $0.7 million of swap fee income. The fourth quarter of 2015 included $2.7 million of net losses on the sale of securities. Noninterest income for full year 2016 was $217.6 million compared to $211.4 million for 2015. The $6.2 million higher noninterest income in 2016 compared to 2015 was due to higher securities gains of $15.0 million and higher BOLI income of $5.0 million, primarily offset by lower service charges and fee income of $6.0 million and higher miscellaneous other income of $7.2 million in 2015.

Noninterest expense was $82.5 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, a decrease of $0.3 million from $82.8 million in the quarter ended September 30, 2016, and an increase of $2.2 million from $80.3 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2015. The slight decrease in noninterest expense compared to the third quarter of 2016 was due to $1.6 million lower salaries and employee benefits expense and $1.7 million lower other expense, largely offset by $1.8 million higher contracted services and professional fees, $0.6 million more in equipment costs and $0.6 million higher regulatory fees. Salaries and employee benefits expense in the third quarter of 2016 included $1.9 million of expenses related to shares granted in connection with our initial public offering. The increase in noninterest expense compared to the fourth quarter of 2015 was primarily due to a $2.5 million increase in occupancy expenses, a $1.8 million increase in contracted services and professional fees, $1.7 million higher regulatory assessment and fees, partially offset by $2.8 million lower salaries and employee benefits and $1.0 million lower cards rewards expenses. Noninterest expense for full year 2016 was $328.8 million compared to $319.6 million in 2015, an increase of $9.2 million, primarily due to $3.5 million higher regulatory assessment and fees, $3.1 million in higher occupancy expenses, and $2.7 million in higher contract services.

The efficiency ratio was 45.8%, 48.3% and 49.1% for the quarters ended December 31, 2016, September 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively. The efficiency ratio for full year 2016 was 46.4% compared to 47.5% in 2015.

The effective tax rate for the fourth quarter of 2016 was 39.8% compared with 38.4% in the previous quarter and 37.7% percent in the same quarter last year. The effective tax rate for the full year 2016 was 38.1% compared with 37.7% in 2015.

Balance Sheet Highlights

Total assets were $19.7 billion at December 31, 2016, compared to $19.9 billion at September 30, 2016 and $19.4 billion at December 31, 2015.

The investment securities portfolio was $5.1 billion at December 31, 2016, compared to $5.4 billion at September 30, 2016 and $4.0 billion at December 31, 2015. The portfolio remains largely comprised of securities issued by U. S. government agencies.

Total loans and leases were $11.5 billion at December 31, 2016, up 1.1% from $11.4 billion at September 30, 2016 and up 7.4% from $10.7 billion at December 31, 2015.

The growth in loans and leases in the most recent quarter was due to increases in residential real estate loans of $108.8 million, consumer loans of $41.6 million, and commercial real estate loans of $31.6 million. Commercial and industrial loans declined by $25.7 million and construction loan balances declined by $25.3 million. The decline in commercial and industrial loans was due to several large pay downs in the shared national credit portfolio, and the decline in construction loans resulted from the scheduled completion and pay down of residential construction projects. Compared to December 31, 2015, the growth in loans and leases was due to increases in residential real estate loans of $264.0 million, commercial and industrial loans of $182.1 million, commercial real estate loans of $179.0 million, consumer loans of $109.2 million, and construction loans of $82.6 million.

Total deposits were $16.8 billion at December 31, 2016, a decrease of $0.2 billion, or 1.0%, compared with $17.0 billion at September 30, 2016, and an increase of $0.7 billion, or 4.6%, compared to $16.1 billion at December 31, 2015. The decline in deposit balances compared to September 30, 2016 was due to the previously anticipated withdrawal of $440 million of construction-related escrow deposits in the fourth quarter, offset by approximately $270 million of growth.

Asset Quality

The Company's asset quality remained stable during the fourth quarter of 2016. Total non-performing assets declined to $9.8 million, or 0.08% of total loans and leases, at December 31, 2016, down $0.4 million from non-performing assets of $10.2 million, or 0.09% of total loans and leases, at September 30, 2016 and down $7.0 million from non­performing assets of $16.8 million, or 0.16% of total loans and leases, at December 31, 2015.

Net charge offs for the quarter ended December 31, 2016 were $3.4 million, or 0.12% of average loans and leases on an annualized basis, compared to $3.4 million, or 0.12% of average loans and leases on an annualized basis for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 and $2.5 million, or 0.09% of average loans and leases on an annualized basis for the quarter ended December 31, 2015. Net charge-offs for the full year 2016 were $8.6 million, or 0.08% of average loans and leases, compared to net charge-off of $9.2 million, or 0.09% of average loans and leases in 2015.

The ratio of allowance for loan and lease losses to total loans and leases was 1.18% at December 31, 2016 compared to 1.18% at September 30, 2016 and 1.26% at December 31, 2015.

Capital

Total stockholders' equity was $2.5 billion at December 31, 2016, compared to $2.5 billion at September 30, 2016 and $2.7 billion at December 31, 2015.

The tier 1 leverage, common equity tier 1, and total capital ratios were 8.36%, 12.75% and 13.85%, respectively, at December 31, 2016, compared with 8.41%, 12.48%, and 13.59% at September 30, 2016 and 9.84%, 15.31%, 16.48% at December 31, 2015.