Bancwest Corphi (FHB) SEC Filing 10-K Annual report for the fiscal year ending Saturday, December 31, 2005

Exhibit 99

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Brandt Farias (808) 525-6112 (brandt.farias@fhb.com)		CONTACT: Roberta Wong (415) 399-8220 (roberta.wong@bankofthewest.com) John Stafford (415) 765-4850 (john.stafford@bankofthewest.com)

BancWest Posts Earnings of $156.1 Million, Up 21.6% From Fourth Quarter of 2004

     (Honolulu and San Francisco, January 19, 2006) — BancWest Corporation, parent company of Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank, today reported net income of $156.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2005, up 21.6% from the same quarter of 2004. For the full year of 2005, net income was $590.4 million, up 24.7% from 2004.

     Net income for the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2004 included after-tax restructuring and integration expenses of $8.0 million and $4.5 million respectively. Excluding these expenses, which were related to acquisitions, net income would have increased 23.5% for the fourth quarter from the same period in 2004. Net income for the full year included after-tax restructuring and integration expenses of $13.3 million and $9.5 million for 2005 and 2004 respectively. Excluding the impact of acquisition-related expenses, net income would have increased 25.0% on a year over year basis.

     “We are very pleased with BancWest’s strong performance in 2005,” said Don J. McGrath, President and Chief Executive Officer of BancWest. “The improvement is a result of our successful acquisition strategy and solid internal growth in both our Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank subsidiaries. In particular, First Hawaiian Bank, led by President and CEO Don Horner and his team, performed extraordinarily well in both the fourth quarter and for the year overall.”

     On December 2, 2005, Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BancWest, completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Commercial Federal Corporation in Omaha, Nebraska, paying $34 in cash for each Commercial Federal share plus a 50-cent per share closing dividend. As of September 30, 2005, Commercial Federal Bank had total assets of $10.2 billion, deposits of $6.1 billion and loans of $7.9 billion.

     As a result of the merger, the Bank of the West “Bear” brand was introduced to 204 former banking locations of Commercial Federal Bank, expanding operations into three new states as well as adding significant market share in four other states.