First Hawaiian Bank: Hawaii/Guam

(Honolulu, Hawaii, May 1, 2006) – First Hawaiian Bank today reported record 2006 first quarter earnings of $48.7 million, an increase of 26.5% over the year-earlier period, according to an announcement today by Don Horner, President and Chief Executive Officer.

“We are pleased with the bank’s first quarter performance,” Horner said. “Our strong results were due to the continued successful execution of our relationship strategy. Earnings were also enhanced by improvement in our net interest margin and asset quality.”

For the three months ending March 31, 2006, First Hawaiian achieved the following:

Total Assets: reached $11.7 billion, an increase of 8.8% over the previous year.
Loans and Leases: were $5.9 billion, a 7.5% increase.
Deposits: were $8.6 billion, up 6.4%.
Non-Performing Assets as a percentage of total assets were 0.02%.

First Hawaiian Bank ($11.7 billion assets) was founded in 1858 and is Hawaii's oldest and largest bank. It has 57 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan. It is a subsidiary of BancWest Corporation (www.bancwestcorp.com), a financial holding company with assets of $65.7 billion.

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