Two of Hawai'i's top banks reported divergent financial results yesterday.

Central Pacific Financial Corp. said its first-quarter profit fell sharply as fallout from loans it made to California homebuilders continued to weigh on earnings.

First Hawaiian Bank, meanwhile, said it earned $56.2 million in the first quarter, an increase of 9.2 percent over the first quarter of 2007.

CPF, the parent company of Central Pacific Bank, said it earned $1.7 million, or 6 cents a share, in the January-to-February quarter. That compared with earnings of $20.1 million, or 65 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier.

Central Pacific said despite the problems in California, the bank's Hawai'i operations are continuing to do well, officials said.

"I just want to emphasize that the issues that impacted us this quarter are isolated to California," said Clint Arnoldus, CPF's chief executive officer. "The company's capital position and operating fundamentals are really solid, and Hawai'i continues to be a very strong performer."

Net interest income for the first quarter totaled $50.9 million, down 3 percent from a year earlier. The provision for loan and lease losses in the first quarter was $34.3 million, compared with $2.6 million a year earlier.

The bank also received $900,000 for partial redemption of the company's equity interest in Visa Inc.

Don Horner, First Hawaiian Bank's chief executive officer, noted the bank continued to perform well overall despite a slowing economy.

First Hawaiian's total assets grew 5.7 percent to $13 billion, while deposits swelled by 1 percent to $9 billion. Loans and Leases rose 8.6 percent to $6.8 billion.