Sales growth slows to 6% in Q3 for First Hawaiian Bank merchants
Tina Yuen
Shoppers are seen in the Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki in this file photo. First Hawaiian Bank says same-store credit and debit card transactions at its merchants increased by 5.9 percent during the third quarter, compared to a year ago.
- Stephanie Silverstein[1]
- Reporter- Pacific Business News
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.[2] | Twitter[3]
Credit and debit card transactions among First Hawaiian Bank’s[4] merchant clients increased 5.9 percent during the third quarter compared to the same period in 2012, the Honolulu-based bank said Sunday in its latest business activity report.
While it was the 15th consecutive quarter of overall positive growth, the 5.92 percent rate of growth was slower than the 8.4 percent growth in the second quarter[5] and the 11 percent increase during the first quarter[6] of this year.
Sales among merchants in 16 sectors totaled $759.7 million for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, compared to $717.3 million last year, with convenience stores leading the growth with an increase of 12.88 from last year, followed by insurance, with 11.36 percent growth, and home furnishings with 9.77 percent growth.
“Convenience stores have posted positive growth every quarter since 2010 and have consistently ranked in the top six," Keith Nagata[7], First Hawaiian's senior vice president and business services division manager, said in a statement. "Both insurance and home furnishings posted their highest 3Q increase in 4 years.â€
A category called "other" was fourth in growth with a 9.01 percent increase, followed by home improvement in fifth place with 5.69 percent.
Hotels represented the largest dollar amount in sales at $145.8 million, which was a 7.06 percent increase from a year ago, followed by restaurants with $117.6 million, a 6.12 percent increase from the third quarter in 2012.
Retail was third in total sales with $86.8 million, but was the only sector to post a decrease, of 1.33 percent, from last year.
First Hawaiian Bank provides credit and debit card transaction services to nearly 7,000 merchant locations in Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the Mainland.
Stephanie Silverstein covers tourism, retail and money for Pacific Business News.
References
- ^ Stephanie Silverstein (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (feeds.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Twitter (twitter.com)
- ^ First Hawaiian Bank’s (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ in the second quarter (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ during the first quarter (www.bizjournals.com)
- ^ Keith Nagata (feeds.bizjournals.com)