Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. said its third-quarter 2008 earnings rose more than 87 percent from a sluggish year-earlier period.

HEI said it earned $37.3 million, or 44 cents per share, during the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with $19.9 million, or 24 cents per share, during the year-earlier quarter.

The results were in line with Wall Street's expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson/First Call forecast third-quarter earnings of 44 cents per share.

Shares of HEI rose 25 cents to $26.96 on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Our earnings showed significant improvement over our unusually low results in the third quarter of 2007," said Constance Lau, HEI chief executive officer.

The year-to-year comparisons were skewed by a $15 million refund that the company gave to its customers in the third quarter of 2007.

Accordingly, HEI's utility income increased to $25.9 million during the most recent quarter from the year-earlier's $12.9 million.

Kilowatt sales were down 2.6 percent during the quarter because of increased conservation and a slowing economy, the company said.

"Clearly, with the economic downturn and the dramatic impact of rising fuel costs on electricity prices during the quarter, customers have redoubled their efforts to conserve energy," Lau said.

Income at HEI's American Savings Bank subsidiary rose 31.6 percent to $15.4 million in the most recent quarter from $11.7 million a year earlier.

Net interest income rose 9.6 percent to $52.3 million from third-quarter 2007's $47.7 million because of lower interest expenses. Under a "balance sheet restructuring," the company sold off more than $1 billion in government-backed mortgage securities in June, reducing its overall expenses.

"In spite of the continued volatility in the financial and credit markets during the quarter, the bank continued to perform well," Lau said.