Matson Tops Our Most Profitable List, But Hawaiian Electric Posted Outsized Loss
In our annual Hawaii Business ranking of most profitable companies, Matson took the crown for a fourth year. But the bigger story was the huge loss by Hawaiian Electric, linked to the Maui fires settlement.
A year of corporate profits in Hawai‘i was overshadowed by a massive loss at Hawaiian Electric Industries, parent of the utility at the center of litigation over the deadly Lahaina wildfire that killed 102 people in August 2023.
Once among the state’s most profitable companies, Hawaiian Electric reported a more than $1.42 billion loss in 2024 – driven largely by a $4.04 billion wildfire settlement with thousands of Maui residents and businesses.
Plaintiffs alleged the utility failed to shut off power lines despite high-wind warnings that preceded the fire. The company, which supplies electricity to about 95% of Hawai‘i’s population, agreed to pay nearly half the settlement amount.
The state, Maui County and other defendants, including Kamehameha Schools, West Maui Land Co., Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum/Charter Communications, also agreed to contribute to the settlement.
Hawaiian Electric’s 2024 loss was greater than the combined total annual profits tallied by 53 companies and organizations in the state during the same period, according to the annual ranking by Hawaii Business Magazine of the most profitable companies in the Islands. The list includes all the local companies whose data is publicly available or was submitted to us.
Hawaiian Electric president and CEO Scott Seu said in the company’s annual report that the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruling earlier this year to allow settlement funds to be released helped “to move the settlement forward and provide more clarity for our company’s path toward reestablishing financial stability.”
The amount of Hawaiian Electric’s loss was also seven times the size of the company’s prior year profit of nearly $200 million.
To help pay for its portion of the settlement, Hawaiian Electric sold 90% of its stake in American Savings Bank to independent investors for $405 million in cash.
“Importantly, the proceeds from this transaction support our efforts to rebuild our financial strength while creating flexibility for how we finance Maui wildfire-related obligations and key utility initiatives, such as wildfire risk reduction,” Seu told shareholders.
“We are deeply committed to advancing our wildfire mitigation efforts, and since launching an expanded wildfire safety strategy in the wake of the Maui wildfires, Hawaiian Electric has rapidly advanced efforts to reduce the risk of wildfires ignited by its equipment.”
So far in 2025, Hawaiian Electric’s stock price is up more than 13% but still hovers around a third of its level before the fire.
For 2024, 13 other companies on the list reported annual losses, including Maui Land & Pineapple Co., which recorded a loss of $7.4 million on top of a prior year loss of $3.1 million. Two years ago, it ranked No. 32 on the list of most profitable companies, with $1.8 million in net profit.
“The net loss in 2024 was driven by the noncash stock compensation expenses, increased operating costs for development and leasing, and $448,000 attributable to the former CEO’s severance paid during the year,” the company reported to shareholders.
MOST PROFITABLE
On the positive end of the ledger, Matson took the crown again, extending its streak as the most profitable Hawai’i company for a fourth year.
With over 2,000 employees and more than $3.4 billion in sales, it logged a net profit of $476 million in 2024. That’s a 60% increase over the prior year, but down from $1.06 billion the year before.
“We benefited from elevated freight rates and heightened demand for our expedited China-Long Beach (the CLX and MAX) services, running these vessels full or nearly so throughout the year,” Chairman and CEO Matt Cox said in his annual report to shareholders.
Using some of its 2022 windfall to invest in three new ships, which are expected in 2027 and 2028, the company has made a big bet on China trade.
“With these vessels, annual capacity in our China service will increase by ~15,000 containers, which we expect will provide a significant lift to net income and EBITDA,” wrote Cox, referring to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. “We will also have our youngest fleet since becoming a public company. As such, we do not currently expect to build any new vessels for another decade.”
China trade has been complicated by U.S.-China bilateral negotiations.
“While we expect our transpacific rates to moderate in the coming year, underlying demand for our expedited China service, predicated on the growth of high-value garments, e-goods and e-commerce, and the conversion of air freight, is increasing,” Cox noted early this year.
However, on-again, off-again tariff negotiations with China under the Trump administration have increased uncertainty, and at least temporarily reduced trade flows, between the countries.
That showed up in Matson’s second-quarter 2025 earnings statement: Despite better-than-expected Hawai’i cargo performance, its “China service experienced significant challenges with container volume decreasing 14.6% year-over-year, primarily due to market uncertainty from tariffs and global trade tensions.”
As a result, it has started to seek revenue streams elsewhere. “Matson has been actively adapting to shifting trade patterns throughout Asia,” according to the earnings statement. “The company highlighted its focus on supporting customers diversifying their manufacturing base beyond China,” Investing.com wrote. “A notable development is the new expedited Ho Chi Minh service, which contributed to sequential quarterly volume increases.”
HAWAI‘I PROFITS LAG NATION
Across the U.S., corporate profits during 2024, the last year of the Biden administration, rose 7.9%, following a 6.9% rise the year before. While corporate profits sank 2.3% in the first quarter of 2025 under the Trump administration, early second-quarter profit reports indicate a rebound is taking shape, with political factors the ongoing wildcard.
“The market’s attention in the second half of 2025 and 2026 will likely be on the impacts of tariffs already in place and the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ on the economy and corporate earnings,” RBC Wealth Management wrote in its economic outlook.
Judging by results posted by all organizations reporting profits in the latest Hawaii Business survey, earnings in the state were less robust than the national average, dropping 3.2% in 2024 compared to 2023.
In the latest Hawai‘i rankings, a nonprofit – the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement – made its first appearance on the Most Profitable List, reporting net income of $38.3 million. It describes its mission as enhancing “the cultural, economic, political and community development of Native Hawaiians.”
“The majority of revenue was generated through contracts with the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawai‘i, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL), the County of Maui, and the Department of Human Services,” according to the Council’s annual report.
Hawai‘i’s financial sector, meanwhile, maintained solid profits, with minor shifts among the top companies.
First Hawaiian Bank held steady at No. 2 on the annual Most Profitable List, recording a 2024 profit of $230 million, down from $235 million the year before and $266 million two years ago.
Bank of Hawai‘i landed in third place, up a notch from a year ago, with a net profit of $150 million.
Also in the financial services sector, the Hawaii State Federal Credit Union leapfrogged from 26th place to seventh, with a net profit of $18.4 million.
First Insurance Co. of Hawaii made a similar move in the insurance sector, jumping from 61st in the 2024 list to ninth this year, recording a profit of $16.4 million.
Hawaiian Airlines, which in recent years has owned the bottom of the list – including in 2023 when it lost $261 million – benefited from its merger with Alaska Airlines. The combined company reported revenues from both airlines’ Hawai‘i operations at $3.82 billion in 2024, a 41% rise from the year before.
However, Alaska Air Group did not break out net profit for just the Hawaiian portion of its combined business.
With risks and uncertainty around tariffs, regulations, taxes, employment and the makeup of the Federal Reserve Board, to name a few issues, the year ahead is sure to deliver surprises.
“Profit,” as Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, famously said, “is what happens when you do everything else right.”
Hawai’i companies may be doing everything right, but as the current economic environment has shown, profits also are dependent on others doing everything right. The decisions of those key players are increasingly difficult to predict.
HOW WE COMPILE THE LIST
Each spring, Hawaii Business Magazine surveys companies and nonprofits to gather key information, such as gross revenue, profits or losses, executives and new acquisitions. Those organizations that reported their profit/loss figures are included on the Most Profitable Companies list, which is supplemented with publicly available data. To request surveys for future lists, please email kenw@hawaiibusiness.com
