Bank of Hawaii Corporation ($BOH)

Earnings Call Transcript · April 24, 2026

NYSE US Financials Banks Shareholder/Analyst Calls 11 min

Highlights from the call

Bank of Hawaii Corporation reported its earnings for the fiscal year 2025, highlighting a solid financial performance with a net income of $206 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $4.63. The company saw consistent growth in net interest income and margin throughout the year. Total deposits and loans increased to $21.2 billion and $14.1 billion, respectively. The company maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.70 per share and repurchased 5 million shares in Q4 2025. No new guidance was provided for 2026, but management expressed confidence in continued success.

Main topics

  • Leadership Transition: James Polk has taken over as CEO following the retirement of long-time Chairman and CEO Peter Ho. Polk expressed optimism about the future, citing a strong financial foundation and market-leading brand.
  • Financial Performance: Bank of Hawaii closed 2025 with a net income of $206 million and EPS of $4.63. Total deposits and loans increased to $21.2 billion and $14.1 billion, respectively.
  • Shareholder Returns: The company maintained its dividend at $0.70 per share per quarter and repurchased 5 million shares in Q4 2025, continuing its streak of returning capital to shareholders.
  • Community Engagement: Bank of Hawaii continued its community support by building or renovating branches and engaging in financial literacy and environmental initiatives.
  • Technological Innovation: The company introduced generative artificial intelligence tools in 2025 to enhance operational efficiency and customer service.

Key metrics mentioned

  • Net Income: $206 million (for the full year 2025)
  • Diluted EPS: $4.63 (for the full year 2025)
  • Total Deposits: $21.2 billion (up from prior year)
  • Total Loans: $14.1 billion (up from prior year)
  • Dividend: $0.70 per share per quarter (maintained throughout 2025)
  • Share Repurchase: 5 million shares (repurchased in Q4 2025)

Bank of Hawaii's strong financial results and strategic initiatives position it well for continued success. The leadership transition appears smooth, and the company's focus on innovation and community engagement is positive. Investors should monitor the impact of technological advancements and community initiatives on future growth. The lack of new guidance suggests stability but also leaves room for uncertainty in 2026 projections.

Earnings Call Speaker Segments

Operator

Operator
#1

Aloha, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Bank of Hawaii Corporation. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded, and the recording will be made available after the meeting on the company's website. During the meeting, we'll have a question-and-answer session. You can submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the Q&A icon. It is now my pleasure to turn today the meeting over to Raymond Vara, Bank of Hawaii Corporation Board Chair. Mr. Vara, the floor is yours.

Raymond Vara

Executives
#2

Good morning. I'm Raymond Vara, Board Chair, and on behalf of our Board of Directors and management, I welcome you to the 54th Annual Meeting of the Shareholders and our 7th Virtual Shareholders' Meeting. It is now 8:30 a.m., and in accordance with the notice of meeting, I will call the meeting to order. Now I'd like to introduce the Board of Directors of the Bank of Hawaii Corporation who are all in attendance by phone. First, John Erickson, Joshua Feldman, Michelle Hulst; Kent Lucien, Elliot Mills, Alicia Moy, Victor Nichols, Dana Tokioka; Suzanne Vares-Lum; Robert Wo, and James Polk, our President and CEO. Now I'd like to introduce the rest of our management team, beginning with our Vice Chairs, Marco Abbruzzese, Matthew Emerson, Patrick McGuirk, Bradley Satenberg, and Bradley Shairson. And our Senior Executive Vice President, Guy Churchill, Sharlene Ginoza-Lee, Jill Higa, Jennifer Lam, Christine Stevens, Dana Takushi, Luke Yeh and Dirk Yoshizawa. I'd also like to introduce David Howell, representing Ernst & Young, our independent public accounting firm. You will see the agenda on the meeting website as well as a link to the rules of conduct for the meeting. We appreciate your cooperation and abiding by the meeting rules. As a reminder, shareholders attending the virtual meeting can vote their shares online from now through the closing of the polls by clicking the Vote icon on your screen. If you have previously voted by proxy and do not wish to change your vote, your vote will be cast as you previously instructed and no further action is required. During the business portion of the meeting, we will consider the following 3 proposals: the election of the company's directors; the advisory vote to approve compensation for the named executive officers; and the ratification to reappoint Ernst & Young to serve as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2026. We will follow the formal business with our company report and current state of business. Following our report, you'll have the opportunity to ask some questions. We ask the shareholders who wish to address the meeting do so at that time. Now let's proceed with the meeting. Board of Directors fixed February 27, 2026, as the record date for determining the shares of common stock entitled to vote at this meeting. The company's Corporate Secretary has advised me that the meeting was called and proper notice was given to all shareholders of record. A copy of the notice of annual meeting and the affidavit of mailing are on file. The number of shares represented in person or by proxy is 33,428,960 or 84% of the 39,725,521 shares issued and outstanding as of the record date. I hereby declare that a quorum is present, and we are qualified to act on all matters set forth in the notice of the meeting. Most of you who returned your proxies authorized the persons named in the proxy to vote on all proposals coming before the meeting. We will now act on the recommendations of the Board of Directors relating to the proposals listed in the proxy statement. The first proposal is the election of 12 directors. The 12 nominees will serve a 1-year term. They are as follows: John Erickson, Joshua Feldman, Michelle Hulst, Kent Lucien, Elliot Mills, Alicia Moy, Victor Nichols, James Polk, Dana Tokioka; myself, Raymond Vara, Suzanne Vares-Lum and Robert Wo. As no other persons have been nominated in accordance with the company's governing documents, the nominations are now closed. The second proposal is to approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the named executive officers disclosed in this year's proxy statement. The final order of business is to ratify the reappointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2026. Before I report the preliminary vote results for these 3 proposals, as everyone who wanted to vote cast their vote. [Voting]

Raymond Vara

Executives
#3

It seems that all of those desiring to vote have voted. I therefore declare the voting polls closed. I've been advised by our inspectors of election that in accordance with the proxies received from our shareholders, each of the director nominees received a substantial majority of the votes cast at least 27,956,448 votes in favor or 95% of the votes cast. With respect to proposal #2 related to the advisory vote on executive compensation, approximately 17,274,193 shares voted in favor or 59% of votes cast. With respect to proposal 3 related to ratifying Ernst & Young as the company's 2026 independent registered public accounting firm, approximately 32,239,430 votes voted in favor or 96% of votes cast. Since we have received more than a majority in favor of each nominee and each proposal, I am, therefore, pleased to announce that all 12 of the company's directors have been elected for a 1-year term, and the 2 remaining proposals have been approved as the Board recommended. Final results of the voting will be published in our Form 8-K and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There being no further business to come before the meeting. This concludes the official business portion of the meeting. The 2026 Bank of Hawaii Corporation Annual Meeting is now adjourned. We will now go to the Q&A session. But before we do that, our President and CEO, Jim Polk, will share some highlights from the year.

James Polk

Executives
#4

Thank you, Ray. Before I provide some company highlights from 2025, I must first pause to recognize the recent retirement of Bank of Hawaii's long-time Chairman and CEO, Peter Ho. Peter served an extraordinary 16 years as our Chairman and CEO, and we've all benefited from his steady thoughtful leadership. On a personal level, I'm deeply grateful for his mentorship and support over the course of my career. And as an organization, we all thank him for his leadership and service to the bank, our employees and our community. I begin my tenure as CEO and a director with a deep sense of gratitude and responsibility to this organization and the communities we serve. I'm optimistic about the future because we start from a position of such strength, a market-leading brand, a strong financial foundation and a team that is exceptionally well positioned to achieve great results for all of our stakeholders. Included on our team is Brad Satenberg, who has promoted to Vice Chair and Chief Financial Officer in July 2025, replacing Dean Shigemura, who retired after a distinguished career with the company that spanned 3 decades. Brad joined us in July of 2024, and was Dean's Deputy for a year before taking over the CFO role, and I'm happy to say that the transition has gone off without a hitch. I'll now share a few other reflections from 2025 and then open it up for a question-and-answer session. Bank of Hawaii closed 2025 with solid financial performance that grew our market-leading share of deposits while maintaining a strong balance sheet, disciplined expense management and an ongoing commitment to long-term growth. Diluted earnings per common share were $4.63 for the full year with net income of $206 million. Our assets finished the year at $24.2 billion, and we saw consistent growth in net interest income and margin in every quarter of 2025. Total deposits and total loans ended the year at $21.2 billion and $14.1 billion, respectively, both up from the prior year. Asset quality and liquidity continued to remain strong, and we maintained our long unbroken streak of returning capital to our shareholders by continuing our dividend at $0.70 per share per quarter throughout 2025, and we also repurchased 5 million shares of stock in the fourth quarter of 2025. Our strong financial performance reflects the hard work and exceptional commitment of our employees whose dedication continues to drive our success. In 2025, we strengthened relationships and deepened ties to the communities we serve by building or renovating 5 branches, including a new branch in Lahaina to replace the 1 that was destroyed in the 2023 Maui wildfires and we opened our new West Pacific regional headquarters into Tamuning, Guam. Continuing our long-standing tradition of innovation, we introduced generative artificial intelligence tools to enhance operational efficiency, customer service and employee experience in 2025. Bank of Hawaii can only be as successful as the communities we serve. And in 2025, we continued to help create a better future for our island communities by providing lessons and financial literacy to school children mentoring small business owners and improving the environment with hands-on volunteerism by our Bankoh Blue Crew. In 2025, our employee-led Live Kokua Giving Campaign raised $623,000 for worthy local causes and our Bank of Hawaii Foundation supported the important work of more than 47 local nonprofits. As we close the books on 2025 and look ahead, I'd say we're off to a great start for 2026, and I remain confident that our strong financial performance positive outlook and unwavering dedication to our shareholders, customers, employees and community positions Bank of Hawaii well for continued success. And now I'd be happy to take your questions. Okay. It looks like we have no questions. So I'd like to close out by thanking you for your interest in Bank of Hawaii. Have a great rest of the day and a great weekend, Mahalo.

Operator

Operator
#5

This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.

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