CPB Inc. said it earned $3.59 million for the three months ending March 31, up from $3.55 million in the year-earlier quarter.

On a per-share basis, the company netted 68 cents for the first quarter, which is identical to the previous first quarter's income. During the past year, the company increased the number of its outstanding shares to 5.27 million from 5.26 million.

"The company has continued to perform well despite the modest economic growth in Hawaii," said Joichi Saito, CPB's chairman and chief executive officer.

The bank holding company said its assets increased 4.2 percent to $1.44 billion from first quarter 1996's $1.38 billion. Total deposits were up 2.9 percent to $1.15 billion from $1.12 billion.

CPB said it had net loans of $1.03 billion for the first quarter 1997, which is a 5.6 percent increase from the year-earlier's $971.3 million.

The company said that its nonperforming assets, loans delinquent for 90 days or more, and restructured loans totaled $24.2 million, a 29.5 percent decline from first quarter 1996's $34.4 million.

Central Pacific Bank operates 26 branches statewide, including seven supermarket branches.