HONOLULU — First Hawaiian Bank on Sunday reported its Fourth Quarter Business Activity Report shows an 11.31 percent increase — the largest in three years. Keith Nagata, senior vice president and Business Services manager said in a news release that
HONOLULU — First Hawaiian Bank on Sunday reported its Fourth Quarter Business Activity Report shows an 11.31 percent increase — the largest in three years.
Keith Nagata, senior vice president and Business Services manager said in a news release that the numbers are “very encouraging for our Hawai‘i economy.”
The fourth quarter “same store sales” were the strongest in the past three years, Nagata added.
It was the first time in the past three years that all 16 sectors tracked in the report posted positive gains, he said.
For all of 2012, credit and debit card sales transactions increased by 9.83 percent over the previous year.
“With tourism rebounding we saw a very strong fourth quarter,” Nagata said.
According to the report, the overall 9.83 percent increase for the year represents a three-year upward trend which started with a 6.42 percent increase in same store sales activity in 2010 and an 8.60 percent increase in 2011.
The BAR tracks sales activity in 16 different economic sectors including automobile, retail, hotels, home improvement, restaurants, shipping and travel, among other categories.