American Savings Bank Reports Fourth Quarter And Full Year 2019 Financial Results

HONOLULU, Jan. 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Savings Bank, F.S.B. (American), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HE), today reported 2019 net income of $89.0 million, compared to $82.5 million in 2018.  Net income for 2019 included an after-tax gain of $5.5 million¹ related to the sales of former properties, net of exit costs to transition to American's new campus.  Key measures of efficiency and profitability were healthy, with an efficiency ratio for the full year of 57.8% compared to 59.4% in 2018, net interest margin of 3.85% compared to 3.83% for 2018, and return on average equity of 13.5% unchanged compared to last year.

¹  The after-tax gain on sale of properties and the after-tax campus transition costs for 2019 was $7.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively, and $7.9 million and $0.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, respectively.

"We continued to execute on our strategic plan in the fourth quarter of 2019 and successfully completed the sale of our former headquarters and Mililani Service Center," said Rich Wacker, president and chief executive officer of American.  "We are pleased that this quarter caps a year of strong financial results, driven by healthy net interest margins and improved operational efficiencies.  As we look into 2020, we are excited to continue to make banking easy for our customers," said Wacker.

Net income for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $28.2 million, compared to $22.9 million in the third, or linked, quarter of 2019 and $21.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.  Net income for the fourth quarter of 2019 included an after-tax gain of $7.7 million¹ related to the aforementioned sales of properties, net of exit costs to transition to the new campus.

Financial Highlights

Net interest income was $248.1 million in 2019, an increase of 2.2% compared to $242.7 million in 2018.  Fourth quarter 2019 net interest income was $60.9 million compared to $62.1 million in the linked quarter and $63.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.  The decrease in net interest income in the fourth quarter of 2019 reflects lower asset yields within the loan portfolio and, compared to the fourth quarter of 2018, higher amortization of premiums in the investment securities portfolio as a result of the lower yielding rate environment.

The provision for loan losses was $23.5 million in 2019 compared to $14.7 million in 2018.  The fourth quarter of 2019 provision for loan losses was $5.6 million compared to $3.3 million in the linked quarter and $2.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.  The higher provision for loan losses for the year and the quarter was due in part to additional loan loss reserves for the consumer loan portfolio and borrower-specific circumstances requiring additional reserves on loans within the commercial and commercial real estate portfolios.

The 2019 net charge-off ratio was 0.45% compared to 0.34% in 2018, primarily due to charge-off activity in the personal unsecured and commercial loan portfolios.  The net charge-off ratio was 0.41% in the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to 0.69% in the linked quarter and 0.37% in the prior year quarter.  Nonaccrual loans as a percent of total loans receivable held for investment was 0.58% in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to 0.63% in the linked quarter and 0.56% in the prior year quarter.

¹  The after-tax gain on sale of properties and the after-tax campus transition costs for 2019 was $7.9 million and $2.4 million, respectively, and $7.9 million and $0.2 million for the fourth quarter of 2019, respectively.

Noninterest income for 2019 was $72.8 million compared to $56.1 million in 2018.  Fourth quarter of 2019 noninterest income was $26.3 million compared to $16.3 million in the linked quarter and $13.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.  The higher noninterest income for the year and the quarter was primarily due to the $10.8 million pre-tax gain on the sales of former properties and increased mortgage banking income.

Noninterest expense for 2019 was $185.4 million compared to $177.4 million in 2018.  Fourth quarter of 2019 noninterest expense was $46.2 million compared to $45.9 million in the linked quarter and $45.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018.  The increase in noninterest expense for the year was primarily due to higher compensation and benefit expense, as well as higher occupancy costs related to American's move to its new campus.  For 2019, non-recurring campus transition costs totaled approximately $3.2 million pre-tax.

Total loans were $5.1 billion as of December 31, 2019, up 5.7% from December 31, 2018, with retail loans up 4.1%.  Commercial real estate and commercial loans grew 9.6% from December 31, 2018.

Total deposits were $6.3 billion at December 31, 2019, an increase of 1.8% from December 31, 2018.  The average cost of funds was 0.29% for the full year 2019, up four basis points versus the prior year.  For the fourth quarter of 2019, the average cost of funds was 0.26%, down four basis points from the linked quarter and down two basis points from the prior year quarter.

Overall, American's return on average equity for the full year 2019 was solid at 13.5%, consistent with full year 2018.  Return on average assets for the full year was 1.25% in 2019 compared to 1.20% in 2018.  For the fourth quarter of 2019, return on average equity was 16.5%, compared to 13.8% in the linked quarter and 14.1% in the fourth quarter of 2018.  Return on average assets was 1.58% for the fourth quarter of 2019, compared to 1.29% in the linked quarter and 1.25% in the same quarter last year.

In 2019, American paid dividends of $56 million to HEI while maintaining healthy capital levels—leverage ratio of 9.1% and total capital ratio of 14.3% at December 31, 2019.

HEI EARNINGS RELEASE, HEI WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL TO DISCUSS EARNINGS AND 2020 EPS GUIDANCE

Concurrent with American's regulatory filing 30 days after the end of the quarter, American announced its fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial results today.  Please note that these reported results relate only to American and are not necessarily indicative of HEI's consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2019.

HEI plans to announce its fourth quarter and full year 2019 consolidated financial results on Thursday, February 13, 2020 and will also conduct a webcast and conference call at 11:15 a.m. Hawaii time (4:15 p.m. Eastern time) that same day to discuss its consolidated earnings, including American's earnings, and 2020 EPS guidance.

Interested parties within the United States may listen to the conference by calling (844) 834-0652 and international parties may listen to the conference by calling (412) 317-5198 or by accessing the webcast on HEI's website at www.hei.com under the "Investor Relations" section, sub-heading "News and Events."  HEI and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. (Hawaiian Electric) intend to continue to use HEI's website, www.hei.com, as a means of disclosing additional information.  Such disclosures will be included on HEI's website in the Investor Relations section.

Accordingly, investors should routinely monitor the Investor Relations section of HEI's website at www.hei.com in addition to following HEI's, Hawaiian Electric's and American's press releases, HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and HEI's public conference calls and webcasts.  The information on HEI's website is not incorporated by reference in this document or in HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings unless, and except to the extent, specifically incorporated by reference.  Investors may also wish to refer to the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC) website at dms.puc.hawaii.gov/dms in order to review documents filed with and issued by the PUC.  No information on the PUC website is incorporated by reference in this document or in HEI's and Hawaiian Electric's SEC filings.

An on-line replay of the February 13, 2020 webcast will be available on HEI's website beginning about two hours after the event.  Audio replays of the conference call will also be available approximately two hours after the event through February 27, 2020 by dialing (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088 and entering passcode:  10136945.

HEI supplies power to approximately 95% of Hawaii's population through its electric utility, Hawaiian Electric; provides a wide array of banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses through American, one of Hawaii's largest financial institutions; and helps advance Hawaii's clean energy and sustainability goals through investments by its non-regulated subsidiary, Pacific Current, LLC.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release may contain "forward-looking statements," which include statements that are predictive in nature, depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and usually include words such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "predicts," "estimates" or similar expressions.  In addition, any statements concerning future financial performance, ongoing business strategies or prospects or possible future actions are also forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and projections about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and the accuracy of assumptions concerning HEI and its subsidiaries, the performance of the industries in which they do business and economic, political and market factors, among other things.  These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance.

Forward-looking statements in this release should be read in conjunction with the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" discussions (which are incorporated by reference herein) set forth in HEI's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 and HEI's other periodic reports that discuss important factors that could cause HEI's results to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.  These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of the report, presentation or filing in which they are made.  Except to the extent required by the federal securities laws, HEI, Hawaiian Electric, American and their subsidiaries undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.