MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. has reported consolidated net income for common stock for the second quarter of 2012 of $38.8 million, or $0.40 diluted earnings per share (EPS), consistent with $38.3 million, or $0.40 diluted EPS in the first, or linked, quarter of 2012. In the second quarter of 2011, net income was $27.1 million, or $0.28 diluted EPS.

“HEI delivered consistent results in the first half of the year as we continued to invest in Hawaii’s economy and clean energy future. This quarter, our utilities invested another $74 million, two and a half times its earnings, in local infrastructure projects to continue to modernize the electric grid. Our utilities’ use of renewable energy – now at more than 13% of electric sales – continues to grow, reflecting our ongoing commitment to moving Hawaii to clean, locally produced energy. American Savings Bank (American) again reported solid results and total loans to customers grew over $110 million from last year, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of growth. Hawaii’s gradual economic recovery continues to be reflected in American’s declining credit costs as asset quality continued to improve,” said Constance H. Lau, HEI president and chief executive officer.

“Reducing our dependence on oil is critical to the future of Hawaii, our company and our customers,” said Lau. Since the end of 2010, close to 90% of the increase in the typical Oahu customer’s bill was due to the increase in the cost of oil. “With the ongoing impact of high oil prices on customer bills, our utilities’ rate of renewable integration remains a critical priority to help stabilize customer bills,” Lau said.

HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY CONTINUES TO INVEST IN CLEAN ENERGY AND RELIABILITY

Hawaiian Electric Company’s net income for the second quarter of 2012 was $29.4 million, compared to $27.3 million in the linked quarter and $17.0 million in the second quarter of 2011.

Compared to the second quarter of 2011, the main driver of the improvement was the recovery of costs for reliability and clean energy investments on Oahu which became effective in July 2011.

As indicated last quarter, in 2011 the Oahu utility continued to spend in advance of revenues to recover the costs for its clean energy and reliability initiatives which put pressure on earnings for the first half of 2011.

Operations and maintenance (O&M) expenses (after-tax) were $2 million lower for the second quarter of 2012 compared to the second quarter of 2011 largely due to $2 million (after-tax) lower administrative and general expenses from a regulatory change in the capitalization of costs which became effective in July 2011.

Due to the timing of projects planned in the second half of the year, management continues to expect O&M expenses to be 6% higher for the full year 2012 compared to 2011.

AMERICAN SAVINGS BANK CONTINUES TO DELIVER SOLID RESULTS

American’s net income for the second quarter of 2012 was $14.2 million compared to $15.9 million in the first, or linked, quarter of 2012 and $15.2 million in the second quarter of 2011. Net income declined by $1.7 million compared to the linked quarter which included the release of tax-related reserves of approximately $1 million (after-tax).

The remainder of the decrease was largely due to higher noninterest expenses for new products and business projects, some of which were originally expected to be incurred in the first quarter. These were partially offset by $1 million lower provision for loan losses from continued improvement in credit quality and portfolio mix.

Compared to the same quarter of 2011, net income declined by $1.0 million due to the non-recurring insurance gain in the second quarter of 2011.

Overall, American continued to deliver solid results in second quarter 2012 with a return on average equity of 11.35% and a return on average assets of 1.15%.

HOLDING AND OTHER COMPANIES

The holding and other companies’ net losses were $4.8 million in the second quarter of 2012 compared to $5.1 million in the second quarter of 2011.

BOARD DECLARES QUARTERLY DIVIDEND

On Aug. 2, 2012, the board of directors maintained HEI’s quarterly cash dividend of 31 cents per share, payable on Sept. 12, 2012, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Aug. 15, 2012 (ex-dividend date is Aug. 13, 2012). The dividend is equivalent to an annual rate of $1.24 per share.

Dividends have been paid continuously since 1901. At the indicated annual dividend rate and the closing share price on August 1, 2012 of $28.38, HEI’s yield is 4.4%.

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