BUSINESS BRIEFS
Barnwell profits hit record $6.3 million
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Barnwell Industries Inc. earned a record $6.3 million, or 73 cents a share for the last three months of 2005, up from $2.3 million, or 29 cents a share for the same period a year earlier, the company said yesterday.
Total revenue rose 40 percent to $17.6 million, helped by contributions from natural gas and oil operations, contract drilling and land investment, the Honolulu-based company said. Net earnings from the quarter also included deferred tax benefits of $2.2 million related to foreign tax credit carryforwards that were not present in the same quarter a year earlier.
NAVY EXCHANGE GETS BAGEL STORE
Sodexho will open Hawai'i's first Einstein Bros. bagel store this spring at the Navy base at Pearl Harbor.
Under a five-year contract Sodexho will renovate an existing cafeteria-style location on the base to make way for the new bagel outlet. Einstein has 373 company-operated and 61 licensed stores in 29 states.
JANUARY SALES BEST SINCE '99
WASHINGTON — Consumers, lured to malls by unusually warm weather and eager to spend their Christmas gift cards, boosted retail sales by a much larger than expected amount in January, with sales outside of autos surging at the fastest pace in six years.
The Commerce Department said yesterday that retail sales excluding autos were up 2.2 percent in January, the best showing in this category since late 1999.
DELTA POSTS SMALLER LOSSES
ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier, reported yesterday a narrower fourth-quarter loss on a solid increase in revenue, but its results pushed its red ink to more than $12 billion since January 2001.
The company, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, said it lost $1.24 billion in the three months ending Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $2.21 billion in the same period a year ago.
