Business briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Mac nut grower losses narrow
ML Macadamia Orchards L.P., the world's largest grower of macadamia nuts, yesterday reported a first-quarter loss of $146,000, or 2 cents a share, an improvement over the same quarter a year ago when it reported a net loss of $416,000, or 5 cents a share.
Revenue in the quarter ended March 31 totaled $2.6 million, down from $3 million in the same quarter last year.
The partnership said it was paid an average of 48.4 cents per pound for its nuts in the quarter, compared to 49.3 cents a year earlier.
The company said Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Corp., its exclusive purchaser, owes the partnership about $3.2 million related to 2001 and 2002 nut deliveries which is past due.
No allowance has been recorded in the first quarter results. The partnership said it may file suit for collection.
Food distributor gets new chief
Wholesale food distributor Fleming Cos. Inc. has promoted Hawai'i sales manager Brian Christensen to division president, replacing Ralph Stussi, who has taken a position in Texas with the Dallas-based firm.
Christensen joined Fleming as a Hawai'i sales representative in 1991, following 15 years in the local food retailing industry. He is on the board of the Hawaii Food Bank and is a member of the Hawaii Food Industry Association. Fleming is the largest packaged consumer goods supplier in the country, and does an estimated $300 million in annual grocery sales to Hawai'i stores.
Home sales set quarterly record
U.S. existing-home sales set a record in the first quarter and prices rose 8 percent from a year earlier, helped by low mortgage rates and limited supply of new homes, the National Association of Realtors said.
Sales of previously owned single-family homes rose to an annual pace of 6.54 million units, beating the record of 6.11 million set in the first quarter of 2001. The median existing-home price rose to $150,900 from $139,700 a year earlier, according to the trade group's survey of 120 metropolitan areas.
Even after the loss of 1.5 million jobs nationwide last year, favorable mortgage rates have fueled the home buying market.
