American Savings Bank earnings up 14.6% 

American Savings Bank earnings up 14.6%

Apr 30, 2012 (Menafn - The Honolulu Star-Advertiser - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --American Savings Bank boosted earnings 14.6 percent during the first three months of the year as it grew its loan portfolio for the sixth consecutive quarter and set aside in its reserve 1.1 million less for troubled mortgages than a year ago.

The subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. reported earnings today for the first time ahead of the parent company's financials. New requirements by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency mandate that federally regulated banks file their financial results with the OCC within 30 days after the end of the quarter. HEI, which owns the state's largest utility, will release its full earnings next Tuesday.

American Savings said its net income increased to 15.9 million from 13.9 million in the year-earlier period while loans increased 3.2 percent from the fourth quarter and is in line with the bank's target of low- to mid-single digit loan growth for the year. The state's fourth-largest bank also said its noninterest income, which includes service charges and fees, rose 7.2 percent to 16.6 million from 15.4 million a year ago primarily due to higher gains on sales from loans.

The bank also benefited last quarter from the release of 1 million in tax-related reserves for positions the company had taken in previous years. The bank said the tax positions it took were proper and it no longer needed to keep the additional 1 million in reserves.

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