HONOLULU, Jan. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Central Pacific Financial Corp. (NYSE: CPF), (the "Company"), parent company of Central Pacific Bank ("CPB", the "Bank"), today announced the appointment of Christopher T. Lutes as director of the boards of CPF and CPB. The appointment is effective March 1, 2018, and will increase the number of directors on both boards from eleven (11) to twelve (12).

Lutes, 50, has over twenty (20) years of experience in the financial services industry in the executive and chief financial officer capacities. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Elevate Credit, Inc., which specializes in tech-enabled online credit solutions. He has been the Chief Financial Officer at Elevate and its predecessor company since 2007. Prior to joining Elevate, Lutes was the Chief Financial Officer for Silicon Valley Bank from 1998-2001. He began his career in public accounting with Coopers & Lybrand.

"Chris has over two decades of finance experience at the executive level in the technology and financial services sectors," said John C. Dean, Executive Chair. "His depth of knowledge and experience is a great asset for our company going forward."

Lutes is a graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in accounting and holds a CPA designation in the State of Arizona.

"We look forward to the high level of leadership and direction that Chris can contribute to our team with his wealth of experience," said Catherine Ngo, President and Chief Executive Officer.  "We are very fortunate to have someone of his caliber on our board."

The other directors of both the Company and the Bank include:  John C. Dean, Executive Chair; Christine H. H. Camp, President and Chief Executive Officer of Avalon Group LLC; Earl E. Fry, former Chief Customer Officer and Executive Vice President, Operations Strategy of Informatica Corporation; Wayne Kamitaki, CEO of Maui Varieties, Ltd.; Paul J. Kosasa, President and Chief Executive Officer of MNS, Ltd., dba ABC Stores; Duane K. Kurisu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of aio, LLC; Colbert M. Matsumoto, Chairman and President of Island Holdings, Inc.; Catherine Ngo, President and Chief Executive Officer of CPF & CPB; Saedene K. Ota, Owner and Creative Director of Sae Design, Inc.; Crystal K. Rose, Partner of Bays Lung Rose Holma; and, Paul Yonamine, Chairman, GCA Corporation, Japan.

About Central Pacific Financial Corp.
Central Pacific Financial Corp. is a Hawaii-based bank holding company with approximately $5.6 billion in assets.  Central Pacific Bank, its primary subsidiary, operates 35 branches and 81 ATMs in the state of Hawaii, as of September 30, 2017.  For additional information, please visit the Company's website at http://www.centralpacificbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements concerning projections of revenues, income/loss, earnings/loss per share, capital expenditures, dividends, capital structure, or other financial items, plans and objectives of management for future operations, future economic performance, or any of the assumptions underlying or relating to any of the foregoing.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts, and may include the words "believes," "plans," "expects," "anticipates," "forecasts," "intends," "hopes," "should," "estimates," or words of similar meaning.  While the Company believes that our forward-looking statements and the assumptions underlying them are reasonably based, such statements and assumptions are by their nature subject to risks and uncertainties, and thus could later prove to be inaccurate or incorrect.  Accordingly, actual results could materially differ from projections for a variety of reasons, to include, but not limited to:  the effect of, and our failure to comply with any regulatory orders we are or may become subject to; oversupply of inventory and adverse conditions in the Hawaii and California real estate markets and any weakness in the construction industry;  adverse changes in the financial performance and/or condition of our borrowers and, as a result, increased loan delinquency rates,  deterioration in asset quality, and losses in our loan portfolio; the impact of local, national, and international economies and events (including political events, acts of war or terrorism, natural disasters such as wildfires, tsunamis and earthquakes) on the Company's business and operations and on tourism, the military and other major industries operating within the Hawaii market and any other markets in which the Company does business; deterioration or malaise in economic conditions, including destabilizing factors in the financial industry and deterioration of the real estate market, as well as the impact from any declining levels of consumer and business confidence in the state of the economy in general and in financial institutions in particular;  the impact of regulatory action on the Company and Central Pacific Bank and legislation affecting the financial services industry; changes in estimates of future reserve requirements based upon the periodic review thereof under relevant regulatory and accounting requirements; the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, other regulatory reform, and any related rules and regulations on our business operations and competitiveness; the costs and effects of legal and regulatory developments, including legal proceedings or regulatory or other governmental inquiries and proceedings and the resolution thereof, and the results of regulatory examinations or reviews;  the effects of and changes in trade, monetary and fiscal policies and laws, including the interest rate policies of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; inflation, interest rate, securities market and monetary fluctuations;  negative trends in our market capitalization and adverse changes in the price of the Company's common shares; changes in consumer spending, borrowings and savings habits; technological changes and developments; changes in the competitive environment among financial holding companies and other financial service providers, including fintech businesses; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies, as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other accounting standard setters; changes in our capital position; our ability to attract and retain skilled executives and employees; changes in our organization, compensation and benefit plans; and our success at managing the risks involved in any of the foregoing items. For further information on factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from projections, please see the Company's publicly available Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including the Company's Form 10-K for the last fiscal year and, in particular, the discussion of "Risk Factors" set forth therein. The Company does not update any of its forward-looking statements except as required by law.

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SOURCE Central Pacific Financial Corp.