Posted on: Friday, May 13, 2005
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Fitch confirms city bond rating
Advertiser Staff
Fitch, a bond-rating company, assigned an AA rating to $328.5 million worth of general obligation bonds to be sold by Honolulu on or about May 18. The bonds will be sold through a syndicate led by UBS Financial Services Inc.
Fitch also affirmed its AA rating on $1.59 billion in outstanding city bonds. Fitch said, "Honolulu's credit strength rests in the sound fundamentals of its tourism-based economy, good financial operations and reserves, low debt burden, and strong fiscal management."
Honolulu-based oil exploration and real-estate development firm Barnwell Industries Inc. reported lower first-quarter earnings, in part because of lower real-estate sales on the Big Island.
The company posted net income of $910,000, or 32 cents per diluted share, down 73 percent from about $3.4 million, or $1.33 per share, in the first three months of last year.
Barnwell's earnings lower
