Utility, bank power HEI’s quarterly revenue over $1B

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. topped $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time due to a steady performance from its electric utility operations and strong loan growth from subsidiary American Savings Bank.

Revenue jumped 37.7% to $1.04 billion from $756.9 million in the year-earlier period, the holding company reported today. It was the most revenue in a quarter since the third quarter of 2008 when HEI generated revenue of $915.4 million.

HEI, parent of the state’s largest utility, reported third-quarter net income per common stock of $62.1 million, or 57 cents a share. That beat analysts’ consensus estimate of 55 cents a share. However, the earnings were down 2.1% from $63.4 million, or 58 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

HEI President and CEO Scott Seu said the earnings reflected a good performance and the benefits of its combination of companies.

“The utility performance was steady and we were able to offset some of the pressures we’ve seen related to inflation, interest rates, O&M (operations and maintenance), and fuel costs,” Seu said on a conference call with analysts. “Our utility outlook for the year has improved since our last webcast. We now expect the utility to end the year closer to the midpoint of its guidance range, better than the lower end that we had forecast last quarter.”