Business briefs
Advertiser Staff
Dockworker talks ongoing
Negotiations for a new labor agreement between shippers and dockworkers began again yesterday and are scheduled to continue today.
Officials from the Hawai'i Employers Council, which represents shippers, said the two sides met for several hours yesterday without a settlement, but declined to say if progress was made.
Members of Hawai'i's International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142, which represents about 480 Hawai'i dockworkers, is seeking increased pay and benefits.
Hawai'i dockworkers have been working without a contract since July. They agreed to work beyond the expiration date while talks progressed on a new deal for about 10,500 of their West Coast counterparts. Hawai'i dockworkers' contract talks typically follow the completion of negotiations for West Coast dockworkers.
HECO sets up new unit
Hawaiian Electric Co. formed a new subsidiary called Renewable Hawai'i Inc. with an initial $10 million of capital to invest in renewable energy projects in the state. Karl Stahlkopf, HECO's senior vice president of energy solutions and chief technology office, will be the president of the new subsidiary as well as continuing current duties.
T. Michael May, president and CEO of HECO, said the subsidiary will get more financing as projects that merit support are presented.
Home Depot shares fall 14 percent
Shares for Home Depot Inc. tumbled as much as 14 percent after the world's largest home-improvement chain forecast its biggest sales decline ever.
Sales at stores open at least a year will fall by as much as 10 percent in the fourth quarter. Chief Executive Robert Nardelli said Home Depot faces a "challenging environment" this year, leading analysts to predict another decline in sales in 2003.
Nardelli, a former General Electric Co. executive brought in two years ago, has cut costs and slowed expansion to raise profitability. That left Home Depot vulnerable to competition.
Construction spending rises
U.S. construction spending rose for a third straight month in November as the lowest mortgage rates in three decades spurred record home sales.
The amount spent on homes, hotels and highways increased 0.3 percent from the previous month after the October gain was revised up to 1 percent, the Commerce Department said.
